


The New Kid

by decadantcollectiondestiny



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, F/F, Gen, High School, Inspired By Undertale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-28 06:45:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 78,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19388668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decadantcollectiondestiny/pseuds/decadantcollectiondestiny
Summary: When Frisk arrives at their new school, Ebbot High, they can't help but be intimidated. How will they make friends and survive being the new kid in a strange new school? A human, high school AU based on the story of Undertale.





	1. Chapter 1

*RIIIING!*  
I climbed the wide grey stairs to the school door as the sound of the first bell rung in my ears. The school was big, much bigger than my old school had been. The shadow of it loomed above me like a giant about to crush me with its foot.  
Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Frisk. There isn’t much to tell about me. I’m on the short side, I have drab brown hair, and my grades are average. Nothing remarkable, really.  
As I stood there at those tall doors, reading the large words above them: Ebbot High School, I wondered, what would be behind them? Would it be a warm, friendly school? Or would it be unwelcoming and stern?  
Well, there was only one way to find out!  
I pushed open the doors. They creaked on their hinges as I opened them.  
...Well, it wasn’t exactly unwelcoming...but it wasn’t exactly friendly, either...  
The school was clean and grey, with lockers lining the walls, and a bulletin board on the right, and crowds of kids milling around. Just an average school, from what I could see.  
I was actually really intimidated. I had never been here before in my entire life. There was no time for an orientation or anything before the first day. After freshman year, my mom got a new job, and we had to move here right before the start of my sophomore year. Like, two days before. I went from knowing all the tricks of my old school, all the little things, to here, knowing next to nothing, and not sure where to go at all. I pushed my way over to the bulletin board, hoping to see a map or something. As I stepped over to it, I felt a tap on my shoulder.  
I jumped slightly, and tentatively turned around. A boy with golden hair and a green sweater was standing there. Something about him made me feel relaxed and at ease, even though I didn’t know him at all.  
“Howdy! I’m Flowey,” he said in a voice that was as kind as his smile.  
Flowey seemed like a kind of strange name. I replied “Oh! Hi, um, Flowey. You kinda scared me.”  
“Oh, sorry ‘bout that,” he apologized off-handedly. “Anyway, you’re new here, aren’tcha? Golly, you must be so confused.”  
He had hit it bang on. “Um, yeah, I guess I am.”  
“Somebody oughta show you how things work around here! I guess little ol’ me will have to do,” he said humbly. He had a warm smile that made me feel reassured for the first time since I came to this school.  
“Oh! Sure! That would be great. Thanks, Flowey!”  
“No problem. C’mon, I’ll show you where your locker is!” he offered. Then he raced down one of the hallways. I followed as fast as I could. He was pretty fast, but I managed to keep him within sight in the crowd the whole way. “Hee hee,” Flowey giggled. “This is gonna be so fun! We’re gonna be best friends!”  
“That sounds great!” I said excitedly. I was glad to have found somebody friendly in this strange new place. We arrived in a hallway that was strangely deserted.  
That should have been my first clue.  
I, being the oblivious dork I was, stood there like an idiot watching Flowey fiddle with a locker in the sinisterly deserted hallway.  
“This is your locker. Now, If I could get it open, that would be even better!” he said. We both laughed. He continued fiddling with the locker, then finally: *Ka-CHUNK!* the locker swung open. “There ya go! Your very own locker!”  
“Cool!” I exclaimed. All of a sudden, I realized something wasn’t right. “Wait a second. How did you know my combina-”  
*SLAM!* Flowey cut me off, slamming me against the lockers on the wall by the back of my neck. “OW!” I shouted. “What the-”  
Flowey cut me off again, this time with words. “You IDIOT. Around here, it’s kill or BE killed. Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this?” He then rolled me into “my” locker and slammed the door. I let out a yelp as he did so.  
If you’ve never been stuffed inside a locker before, take it from me: it’s not pleasant. Especially when the locker is super small, and especially when the locker you’ve been stuffed into has unidentifiable substances at the bottom of it, so that you’re ankle-deep in goop. And you know that you’re going to have to walk around school that day with goop stains on your shoes and socks.  
As I was pondering this interesting development, I heard pounding footsteps. I was just starting to think that Flowey was leaving me in here and going to class, when I heard another voice, a female.  
“Oh, hello, Flowey. Did you hear a shout?” the voice asked. The voice was soft and kind, and it made me feel reassured for the second time since I came to this school.  
So, naturally, I didn’t trust her at all.  
“Oh, hi, um...Toriel.” That was Flowey. He sounded nervous.  
“Flowey...DID you hear a shout?” Toriel seemed suspicious now.  
“Um, no. Did somebody shout? I didn’t hear anything-”  
“HELP!” I yelled through the metal of the locker door. “Flowey stuffed me in a locker! Get me out!”  
I could sense Toriel’s anger and Flowey’s discomfort even through the locker door.  
“Heh. Um...gotta go!” Flowey said. Then I heard pounding footsteps again. My keen instincts told me that Flowey had run away.  
*Ka-CHUNK!*  
Light. Oh, that light felt so good after being trapped in a cramped, goopy locker for all of five minutes.  
Toriel (at least, I assumed she was Toriel) was standing in front of me, holding a key. She appeared to be a senior, with straight white hair that reached her shoulders. She spoke with concern in her voice. “What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth.” She must have sensed my anxiety, for she spoke soothingly next. “Ah, do not be afraid. I am Toriel. But you may call me Tori. I am always on the lookout for new students who are having trouble. You are the first new student to come here in a long time. Come! I will give you a real tour,” she offered.  
I had to thank her. “Thanks, Tori, you saved my skin.”  
“Not at all! This way,” she said as she went off down a hallway.  
I felt pretty sure that she wouldn’t betray me like Flowey did, going off of the fact that she had just saved me, so I followed her. Let me just say that it was the best decision I could have possibly made.


	2. Chapter 2

Toriel and I walked down the hall. I was still a bit apprehensive, but I decided to trust her. I needed all the help I could get. “Class does not start for another ten minutes,” explained Toriel, “So there is plenty of time to show you all the things you need to see.”  
“Great!” I replied. “I seriously have no idea where anything is. I just moved here two days ago.”  
“Worry not!” Toriel reassured me. “I am sure you will know your way around in no time at all.”  
“Great! I’m Frisk, by the way.”  
“Frisk. That’s a lovely name! Be sure to take good care of it,” she replied.  
Toriel showed me all the sights of Ebott High School, the cafeteria, the auditorium, the science lab, and the library, which, for some reason was spelled “Librarby” on the sign above the door. I decided not to question it.  
After the grand tour, I asked Toriel, “Any final tips?”  
“Well,” she said, “As you are a new student here, you may find it difficult to talk to people.”  
“Uh, yeah,” I replied. “I was wondering about how to go about doing that.”  
“The most important thing is to be prepared for the situation,” Toriel said. “Worry not! The process is simple. Just strike up a friendly conversation. Practice talking to my friend here.” She gestured to a kid in a worn brown leather jacket standing in the hallway, who waved. I walked up to him and opened my mouth, but......  
I was at a loss for words. I had no clue what to say. We just stood there staring at each other. Eventually, it looked like the kid got bored, because they said “Uh, Toriel, I, uh, gotta go. I’m getting kinda tired of this kid’s aimless shenanigans.” They edged warily away. Tori stood there and said nothing for a while.  
“I know, I was bad...” I said.  
“No, no, you were quite all right! Come, there is much more to see.” She then led me down a hall. “These are some of my friends,” she explained. “Shall I introduce you?”  
“Sure!” I agreed. Toriel led me over to a kid who was sitting against the wall. “Hello, Froggit. This is Frisk. They are a new student here.”  
“Hi,” Froggit replied glumly.  
“Hello,” I replied awkwardly. I tried to pay them a friendly compliment, but I was still feeling awkward, so it just came out as mumbled gibberish.  
Froggit seemed to guess that I was attempting a compliment. “Uhhh... Thanks?”  
I sat down beside them. “So, uhhh...Wh-Whatcha doing?” I inquired, attempting to start some feeble form of a conversation.  
They sighed. “I don’t know. Searching for life’s meaning. Existing. I don’t really know why I’m here,” they answered dejectedly.  
I felt bad, but more awkward than sympathetic, so I left. “Okay. G-Good talk.”  
Toriel led me over to a person with long wispy hair who had their face buried in her hands. “Hello, Whimsun,” Toriel greeted with a friendly smile, “This is Frisk. They are a new student here.”  
I wanted to see if the poor kid was okay, and I started to say something to them to maybe console them, but halfway through my first word, Whimsun burst into tears and ran away.  
Toriel seemed concerned. “Poor thing.”  
“...Yeah,” I agreed. Toriel took me over to the last person, a small, weedy-looking guy with abnormally large glasses, and a scared expression on his face.  
“Hello, Loox," Toriel greeted him. “This is Frisk. They are a new student here.”  
I gave a little wave and said hi, but he responded with a quiver in his voice. “...Please don’t pick on me.”  
I was taken aback. “Why would I do that?’  
“I don’t know. Sometimes I’m just sitting here, minding my own business, and someone thinks it’s funny to throw a book at me.”  
“Oh...Well, I won’t do that, okay?”  
Loox seemed relieved. “Finally someone gets it. Thank you.”  
“No problem,” I replied. “You really shouldn’t even have to ask.”  
“Yeah...I shouldn’t...” There was silence for a moment.  
I tried to change the subject. “Hey, cool glasses!”  
“You like them?” Loox was blushing. “My family runs a glasses store. It’s the Eyewalker family business.”  
The conversation was going great, and I was about to ask him which classes he had, when-  
*RIIIIING!*  
The warning bell rang. “Well, Frisk,” said Toriel, ruffling my hair. “It is time for class!” She looked at my schedule in your hand. “Ah, your first class is Science! Your classroom is right over there.” She guestured down the hall, and I could see room 48 at the end of it.  
“Thanks, Tori!” I said. “See you at break?”  
“Of course!” she called back to me as she headed off to her class.  
I entered the classroom and took a seat. The teacher wore a faded ribbon in her hair. It was the usual first day stuff: Rules, syllabus, papers. But I did listen to everything she was saying because I needed to learn as much about this school as possible. While I was reading the syllabus, a kid with messy hair in desperate need of a trim and a bad case of acne turned to me. “Hey,” he said in a low whisper. “I’m Jerry. ’Sup?”  
I replied. “Hi, Jerry. I’m Frisk.”  
“Okay. So, like, what are you even doing?” he asked.  
“Uhh… reading the syllabus like we’re supposed to?” I replied quizzically.  
“Psshh. Those are for nerds.”  
“Hey, don’t be a jerk. We HAVE to read these.” I was getting seriously annoyed. But Jerry had already turned his back on me and started picking his nose.  
Sigh...  
Next period was a lot better. It was a free period! I finished reading all the papers my Science teacher had given me, and after that, it was break. I my free period in high spirits. They were lifted even higher when Toriel found me. She greeted me, and then she asked me how my classes were. I told her about Jerry, and my free period, and how I liked my teachers so far. She seemed pleased at how well I had come out. “You have done excellently thus far,” she said.  
“Thanks!”  
“However, I have a difficult request to ask of you.”  
“Okay?” I was curious, and a little apprehensive.  
“I would like you to walk to the end of this hallway by yourself. Forgive me for this.” And then she raced down the hallway.  
I was confused, but walked down the abnormally long hallway anyway. When I reached the end, Toriel came out from behind a pillar. “Greetings!” she said as if she hadn’t just done something incredibly strange. “Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me.”  
“Uh...You’re welcome?” I was seriously confused.  
“However, there was an important reason for this exercise.”  
Finally, she’s about to explain herself! I thought. “To test your independence. I have to attend to some business, and you must spend the rest of break alone.”  
“Ok, I can do that,” I replied.  
“I have an idea. Let us exchange phone numbers. If you have a need for anything, just call.”  
“Great! Thanks, Tori!” I scribbled down my number on a piece of scratch paper and handed it to her, and she did the same.  
“Be good, alright?” she said.  
“Bye!” I waved as she went back down the absurdly long hallway.  
I decided to go up on the balcony and see the view. But before I could take two steps, my phone rang.  
“Hello? This is Tori.”  
“Hi!” I said.  
“For no reason in particular...which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?” she asked.  
I got the feeling that this was for a particular reason, but I played along. “Hmmm...cinnamon!”  
“Thank you!” she replied, then she hung up. But I had barely taken two steps down the hall when my phone rang again. “Hello? This is Tori!”  
“Hi again!”  
“You do not DISLIKE butterscotch, do you? I know what your preference is, but...Would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate?”  
“Of course not!” I answered.  
“Right, right. I understand. See you soon!” then she hung up. I waited a few more minutes to see if she would call again, and when she didn’t, I tried to go to the stairs to the balcony, but as I turned a corner...  
Someone was sitting with their legs stretched out all the way across the hallway. “zzzzzzz... zzzzzzz... (are they gone yet) zzzzzzz...”  
They were blocking the hall. “Hey...” I whispered. Nothing happened. I cleared my throat. “Hey...” I said a little louder. I had no choice but to try to move them with force. *poke* Nothing. *poke poke* Still nothing. *poke poke poke* That last poke did the trick. They opened their eyes. “oh...sorry... i didn’t mean to be in your way. i’m napstablook...if you care...  
They seemed really depressed, so I tried to make them feel better. “Of course I care!” I gave them a patient smile.  
“heh... sorry, i’m... i’m really not feelin up to it right now...sorry.”  
I tried telling them a little joke to cheer them up.  
“heh heh...” They looked down at the ground and smiled shyly. “hey...can I show you something?”  
“Sure!” I answered.  
They produced a white top hat from goodness knows where, and put it on. “i call it “dapper blook” ...do you...like it?”  
I applauded. “I love it!” I told them, and I meant it, too. It really went with their white hair and hoodie.  
“oh gee... i usually come here because there’s no one around...but today i met somebody nice...”  
“Aw, thanks.”  
“oh...i’m rambling again...i’ll get out of your way...” They stood up, picked up their messenger bag, and shuffled away.  
I smiled to myself as they left, and kept walking down the hall. I hadn’t gone very far when I saw a table with a red checkered cloth on it in the middle of the hall. There was a girl sitting behind it and a sign on top of it.  
“Bake Sale - All proceeds go to the school treasury”  
There were donuts and cider for sale. I decided to buy some cider. I gave the girl some money and she gave me the cider. “Thank you, dearie!” she said.  
“You’re welcome!” I replied.  
I drank my cider as I went through the balcony doors. It was wonderful up there, not a soul around. I could see the downtown in front of me, sprawling out like a big, purple map. (Yes, for some reason, most of the buildings downtown are purple. Don’t ask me why. It does make the streets look very cheery, though.) I stood there for a while, taking in several deep breaths.  
*RIIING!* The bell roused me from my relaxation. As I turned to go, I thought I saw a flash of green pass through the balcony door.  
Maybe it was my imagination...?


	3. Chapter 3

The next class was nice. Since I was so new, I didn’t get to pick my elective, which actually turned out fine, because I got the elective that I would have chosen anyway: Band! The classroom’s most notable feature was the ballet shoes hanging from the ceiling. We didn’t do much playing, though. We just did warm-ups and stuff like that, and the band teacher talked about when that semester’s concerts would be. The only bit of trouble was when one of the saxophone players sat on a whoopee cushion. A trombone player in a blue hoodie started laughing, and the teacher gave him a detention.  
The second to last class before lunch was math. Math turned out to be incredibly boring, because the teacher was the kind of teacher who could drone on and on about something without checking to see if his students have dropped dead of boredom. After staggering out of math, the last class before lunch was English.  
The English teacher wore very old and worn glasses, a purple sweater, and carried a tattered purple notebook, which she fidgeted with while she told us the rules of the classroom. She was just finishing telling us about all the books we would be reading this semester when the bell rang.  
Finally, it was lunchtime. I hurried out of the History classroom to sit at my lunch table...But then I remembered I didn’t HAVE a lunch table. “I don’t know ANYONE.” I said to myself weakly.  
“Ah, but that is not true!” came a familiar voice from behind me. I turned around, and there was Toriel! “You know me!” she said. “Hello, Frisk.”  
“Tori! I’m so glad to see you!”  
“I’m happy to see you too, Frisk. Come along. Let us eat lunch.”  
“Great!” I riffled through my pockets for my lunch money. Nope, not in my left pocket. Not in my right pocket, either! Wait! There’s something here...Something in the shape of ...a Hole.  
I cursed silently to myself. Toriel must have noticed, because she asked “What is wrong, Frisk?”  
“I have a Hole in my pocket, and my lunch money all fell out!” I was seriously annoyed.  
“Hole-y cow! Where?” Toriel joked. I gave her an annoyed look. “...I’m so sorry.” she apologized between giggles. “How about this. I will share some of my lunch with you! I was going to give you a slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie anyway- Oops! I’ve spoiled the surprise! How careless of me!”  
“Really? Thanks so much! I love pie!”  
“I thought you might.” Toriel said with a smile. “Come. This way.”  
She led me over to an empty table. Well, empty except for a person with flaming red hair and wearing a cheerleader’s uniform who was sitting at the other end. Toriel opened her lunchbox and placed a half a sandwich, an apple, a few carrot sticks, and a large slice of pie on the table. “Here you are,” she said.  
“Wow!” I smelled the pie. “It smells delicious! Thanks so much, Tori!”  
“You are most certainly welcome. I even baked it myself during my Cooking class!”  
“You did a great job, then.” I told her with my mouth full.  
“Thank you,” Toriel replied modestly.  
After lunch, I had a PE. The teacher, who wore a bandana with abs drawn on it and a pair of pink leather gloves, told us all the units we would be doing, and then after that, he let us play dodgeball for the entire period!  
Finally, all that was left was History. The history teacher was really cool. She told us all the things we would be learning in history, and they sounded super cool. China, Japan, Medieval Europe, all that stuff! After that, she just let us hang out and talk or do homework and stuff. I just sat in a corner reading, while everybody else talked and shouted.  
*RIIIIING!*  
I hurriedly packed up all my papers in my binder, and raced out the door. I had been thinking about something all class period, and I really wanted to talk to Toriel before she left.  
I found her by the flagpole. “Goodness, you’re in a rush! Did you have a good day?”  
“It was awesome. Well, except for, you know...Flowey. But other than that, it was great!” I paused. “But...Tori, can I ask you something?”  
“Of course!”  
“Do you...Do you think I could try it on my own tomorrow? I mean,” I added hastily, “It’s not that I don’t like you, but I think I should be able to handle myself... y’know?”  
Toriel paused for a long time before answering. “...If you truly wish to strike out on your own...I will not stop you. It is just...I have seen so many new students get bullied and tormented by Flowey and many others... I couldn’t let the same happen to you. I do not want you to be mistreated... the way Asgore mistreated me... But, I think you will be strong enough.”  
I didn’t know who this Asgore was, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to, but I gave Toriel a big smile. “Thank you, Toriel.”  
Then, to my surprise, Toriel gave me a big hug, which I then returned.  
*HONK HONK!* Our hug was cut short by my bus. “Oh!” Toriel started. “That is your bus. ...Good luck, Frisk!”  
“Thanks, Tori!” I waved as I walked to my bus. After a few steps, I looked over my shoulder back at Toriel. To my surprise, she was looking at me too. I giggled and waved. She waved back, smiled, and turned back around and kept walking back into the school.  
I was so busy watching Toriel leave that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going until I walked right into Somebody.  
“Clever. Veeeery clever,” said the Somebody. I turned around. It was Flowey. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?”  
“Well, I, uh…”  
“In this world, it’s kill or be killed. So you were able to play by your own rules.” He put on a really creepy face. “You made friends with a single person. Hee hee hee... I bet you feel really great.”  
“Well, I, uh…“  
“You don’t seem to understand how things work around here. But don’t worry. You’ll find out soon enough. Hee hee hee... This is going to be interesting.”


	4. Chapter 4

On the second day of school, I was walking to the bus stop when my phone rang. I picked it up. “Hello?”  
“Hello,” said the person on the other end. “C-could I speak to G... Oh. Wait a minute... Is this the wrong number?”  
“Um...” I said, not sure what to say.  
Suddenly, the person on the other end burst into song. “Oh it’s the wrong number! The wrong number song! We’re very very sorry that we got it wrong!”  
“???”  
“Oh it’s the wrong number! The wrong number song! We’re very very sorry that we got it wrong!”  
*Click...*  
“Oooookay then...” I said to myself as I put my phone back in my pocket. Just then, the school bus pulled up to the curb. It opened its doors, and I hopped on. The bus driver was wearing all black, and their cap covered their face.  
“Tra la la,” they said.  
“Oh, um... Hello?” I said tentatively.  
“Tra la la. I am the Busdriverman. Or is it the Busdriverwoman? It doesn’t really matter.”  
“Um... ok?”  
I chose a seat near the middle. As we drove along, I looked out the window at the neighborhood. About halfway through the drive, I heard a click as the Busdriverperson turned on the intercom.  
“Tra la la,” they said, their voice reaching the whole bus through speakers on the walls. No one else on the bus seemed to pay them any attention. “Somewhere, it’s Tuesday. So be careful.”  
*Click… The intercom turned off.  
I glanced at my phone. Today was Tuesday.  
The bus arrived at school, and, for the first time, I came in through the back doors, as opposed to the first day, when Mom drove me to school, dropping me off by the front. The back doors were a lot less impressive than the front.  
I went in, and immediately the first bell rang. When the second bell rang, it was time to go to class, so I wanted to find it so that I wasn’t rushing at the last minute.  
Again, I was lost. I think I recognized the locker that Flowey shoved me into, mostly because it had pink goop oozing out the vents, but I had no idea where the science lab was. I was pretty sure it was on the second floor, so I creaked my way up. The hallway was quickly emptying, so I hurried to the science lab. Or at least I thought it was the science lab. When I opened the door, I realized that it was actually the cafeteria. A guy with orange-brown hair and an apron was mopping the floor.  
I quickly closed the door and turned a corner. To my right was the balcony door, but to my left was another, strangely deserted hallway. I saw some double doors at the end that looked promising, and seeing no Flowey waiting to stuff me into a locker, I headed toward the doors.  
*step...step...* I could have sworn I heard footsteps behind me, but when I looked over my shoulder, no one was there. “...Hello?” I called nervously. When no one answered, I kept walking warily.  
*CRUNCH!* I jumped, and whipped around to see what made that noise. A soda can on the ground had been completely flattened. “Is... Is anybody there?” I called. Silence. I turned around, and kept walking, albeit slowly and nervously.  
*step...step...* I stopped walking, and froze, right in the middle of the hallway.  
*step...step...step...step...* The Sound was getting closer. I stood stock-still, not daring to move. Then, the Sound spoke.  
“H e y , y o u . D o n ’ t y o u k n o w h o w t o g r e e t a n e w p a l ? T u r n a r o u n d a n d s h a k e m y h a n d.”  
Warily, I turned around. A Hooded Figure was standing in front of me, with their left hand extended for a handshake. The light was so bad, and their hood was pulled down so low that I couldn’t see their face. Feeling like I had nothing to lose, I shook the Hooded Figure’s hand.  
*pbbthhhbthhhbbbbb...* I felt something squishy on my hand, and the most ridiculous sound ever produced by humanity emitted from the Hooded Figure’s hand. They took off their hood, and I could see that they were wearing a really goofy grin. I could now see pretty well, and I took a good look at the Not-So-Hooded-Figure-Anymore-But-Never-Mind. He was still wearing that goofy grin, and he had messy white hair, as if he never bothered to brush it in the morning. He wore a blue hoodie over a white T-shirt, and gym shorts, along with slippers.  
“heh. the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it’s always funny. anyway, you’re the new kid, right?”  
“Yeah. I’m Frisk.”  
“that’s hilarious. i’m sans. i’m actually supposed to be heading to class right now, but,” Sans shrugged. “i just don’t really feel like it, y’know?”  
“Sure.”  
“hey. lemme give you some advice, kid.” All of a sudden, his goofy grin dropped away, and he looked, for the first time since I met him, serious. “you should probably be on the lookout for my brother. he wears a red scarf, and has white hair, like me. his name’s papyrus.”  
He was making me anxious. “Okay...But why?”  
“let’s just say, a new kid hasn’t come to this school in, like, forever, and he’s basically the welcoming committee.”  
“Oh. Well, thanks for the heads up.”  
“no sweat, kid.” He stopped, listening. Then he looked around the corner. “oop. i think that’s him over there, actually.”  
“Seriously??? Uh oh.”  
“quick, behind that conveniently located potted plant.” I went behind the plant. I had seen that type of plant before, but I didn’t know its name. I just barely hid me from view, but I could look between the stalks of the plant to see what was going on. A tall boy wearing a red scarf and a white t-shirt over a black long-sleeved undershirt strode in. He looked annoyed.  
“SANS!” He yelled.  
“‘sup, bro?” Sans greeted in a laid-back tone.  
“YOU KNOW WHAT “SUP”, BROTHER! CLASS STARTS IN TWO MINUTES, AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T... FOUND. YOUR. CLASSROOM! YOU’RE JUST STANDING AROUND IN THE HALLWAY! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING???”  
“staring at this plant. it’s really cool. do you wanna look?”  
“DON’T BE RIDICULOUS! I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!”  
“all right, i’ll leaf you alone then.”  
“UGH!” exclaimed Papyrus, stamping his foot in frustration. “I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR RIDICULOUS JOKES EITHER, SANS! I’M LOOKING FOR THAT NEW KID THAT I HEARD CAME TO SCHOOL YESTERDAY! HAVE YOU SEEN THEM?”  
“yeah, actually. i have.”  
I was kind of panicking right then. I was thinking that Sans was about to give away my hiding place, and then Papyrus would find me, and then he would beat me up or something like that!  
But that’s not what happened at all.  
“REALLY? THEN THEY MUST BE CLOSE BY! I HOPE I FIND THEM BEFORE CLASS STARTS! I WANT TO GIVE THEM A PROPER WELCOME!”  
“yeeeeah...” Sans was looking nervous.  
“WELL, SEE YOU LATER, SANS! GET TO YOUR CLASSROOM! IT SHOULDN’T BE TOO DIFFICULT, SINCE WE BOTH HAVE THE SAME FIRST PERIOD! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!”  
There was silence for a bit.  
“okay, you can come out now.” I exited from behind the potted plant.  
“Whew! Thanks for that.”  
“no biggie. hey, you should probably get going. he might come back. and anyway, if you stay...” Sans gave me a wink. “you’ll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes.”  
“Alright, well, see you around, Sans.”  
I turned and took a few more steps toward the double doors, but Sans had one more thing to say. “actually, can I ask a favor?”  
I turned back around. “Sure,” I said.  
“my brother’s been feeling a little down lately, and seeing a new kid would really make his day. so, if you do run into him, don’t freak out, okay buddy?”  
“S-Sure thing, Sans.” I was still pretty nervous.  
“thanks a million, kid. i’ll be up ahead.” He turned around in the opposite direction and left.  
* * *  
After school, I decided to go and chill out at the park before I went home. Dad had shown me the place once, so I knew how to get there and back. I was still a bit shaken by the morning’s experiences, so I just collapsed on a bench.  
I think I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up. Something cold was on me. I opened my eyes. Now I questioned whether I was asleep or not, because what felt like snow was falling on my face! I leapt up and stared at the sky. Yep, it was definitely snowing! But it was late September! This couldn’t be happening. I pinched myself a couple of times just to make absolutely sure I wasn’t dreaming.  
When I finally accepted that I wasn’t dreaming and it really was snowing in September, I realized that I needed to get home before I froze, because I was wearing only shorts and a T-shirt. I started shivering. Because both Mom and Dad were now at work, I couldn’t call either of them to pick me up. I began to stumble out of the park and down the street.  
I did not recognize the sign. I wiped the snow off it, and it read “Welcome to Snowdin!”  
I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because I was in a completely different neighborhood, called Snowdin, apparently. By this point, I was freezing, so I just walked down the sidewalk quickly without looking at the street I was in. It was getting colder by the second, and I was shivering like crazy. I knew I wouldn’t last much longer in those conditions, so I decided my only option was to knock on somebody’s door and ask if I could warm up before I started heading back home. Sure, there was an off chance that someone I knew would be at the door I knocked on, but the odds of that were very slim at best.  
It seemed the odds had been so slim, they had managed to slip though the bars of reasonable logic. Because the person who answered the door was none other than Papyrus.  
When Papyrus saw me, he jumped a foot in the air, cracking his head on the doorframe in the process. He stumbled away from view, rubbing his head.  
I wanted to run away right then, but the door was wide open, and heat was still rushing out. Between freezing to death and being beaten up, I didn’t really have much of a choice.  
While I was warming myself, I saw Sans poke his head in the doorway. I started to say something, but he pulled his head back before I could even open my mouth. I could hear Papyrus and Sans whispering to each other from inside the house.  
“SANS!! OH MY GOD!! IS THAT… THE NEW KID!?!?!??!?!”  
They both poked their heads in the door.  
Part of me wanted to run away, but I was curious as to why Papyrus didn’t just charge out there and beat me up.  
Sans whispered back to Papyrus. “uhh... actually, i think that’s a rock.”  
I glanced behind me, and sure enough, there was a rock there.  
Papyrus looked downcast. “OH.”  
He pulled his head back, but Sans grabbed his scarf and dragged him back. “hey, what’s that in front of the rock?” he asked.  
Papyrus’ face lit up with joy as he noticed me. “OH MY GOD!!!” He paused. “(IS… IS THAT THE NEW KID?)”  
“(yes)”  
Papyrus went nuts. “OH MY GOD!!! SANS! I FINALLY FOUND ONE!!! I’M GONNA… EVERYONE WILL… I’LL BE SO… POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!!!”  
Papyrus got up close to me. I tried to back away, but I backed into the gate instead. He was looking really excited. He cleared his throat. “SO. YOU ARE THE NEW KID, YES?”  
I was really scared, but I tried not to show it. “Y-Yes. Yes, I am.”  
Papyrus looked pleased. A starry-eyed expression passed over his face for a second. “YES! I KNEW IT!” He cleared his throat. “YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA!”  
I tried to reason with him. “Hey, look, I don’t want any trouble-”  
He cut me off. “I WILL STOP YOU FROM GOING ANY FURTHER! YOU WILL NEVER GET PAST ME!”  
“Please, can’t we talk about this-”  
“FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS...”  
I braced for impact.  
“WILL MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOU FIRST!”  
I relaxed, and let out a sigh of relief.  
Sans came out of the doorway. “yep. i told you to watch out for my brother...because he’ll want to make friends with you as soon as he sees you.”  
Papyrus started prancing around. Then he composed himself. “AHEM. NEW KID! YOU WILL GO NO FURTHER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL IMPRESS YOU WITH MY PUZZLE-MAKING AND COOKING SKILLS! I WILL THEN BEFRIEND YOU! WE WILL CONSTRUCT FOR OURSELVES A MUTUAL FRIENDSHIP! THEN… THEN!!!” He paused. “I’M NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. IN ANY CASE! PREPARE TO BE ASTOUNDED AND AMAZED BY…”  
With a dramatic flourish, he pointed at a large, wooden building right next to his house. “PAPYRUS’S PUZZLE PALACE AND SPAGHETTI SANCTUARY!” He glanced at his brother. “OR, AS SANS CALLS IT… OUR GARAGE???”  
Papyrus rushed over to a side door to the garage. “I SHALL GO PREPARE THE PUZZLES!!! YOU WAIT RIGHT THERE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!” He opened the door and dashed inside.  
Sans shrugged. “welp, I should probably go help.” He walked over to the door. Then he stopped and faced me. “you can come in now.”  
I honestly didn’t know what to make of this enthusiastic nut, but Papyrus seemed harmless enough, and puzzles sounded kind of fun! I texted Mom that I was going to be late coming home, and followed Sans through the door.   
I stared at all of the components of the room. Books, tools, wood, wires... Papyrus really was serious about making puzzles. Papyrus was busy with something on the floor. I turned to Sans. “So... I take it that these aren’t jigsaw puzzles?”  
Sans nodded. “yeah. that’s my brother...he’s a puzzle building fanatic.”  
I looked around the garage, noticing that something was missing. “Wait...if this is the garage... Where’s the car?”  
“oh, yeah. it’s out in the driveway, which is actually on the other side of the house. after papyrus... asserted himself in here, our parents just decided to move the car out before papyrus made a puzzle-lock on the car doors.”  
I chuckled. Papyrus finished with whatever he was doing, then turned around. “OH-HO! THE NEW KID ARRIVES! IN ORDER TO IMPRESS YOU… MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE… QUITE SHOCKING! FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE… ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE…” Papyrus produced a large blue ball. “THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP! SOUND LIKE FUN?” I shook my head. “GOOD! BECAUSE THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE, IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL, I THINK.” He grinned and tossed the orb to me. “OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW.”  
I cautiously stepped into the blue line that seemed to serve as the boundary for the maze. Nothing happened. I assumed I had entered in the right spot. I warily reached out a hand to touch an assumed “wall.” Nothing happened. Feeling confident now, I walked straight through the maze, ending up right next to Papyrus. He seemed amazed.  
“INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! I HAD HOPED THAT MY ELABORATE DECEPTION WOULD FOOL YOU INTO THINKING THAT A PUZZLE ACTUALLY EXISTED HERE! ALAS, IT DOES NOT. IT IS MOST DEFINITELY… THE ‘INVISIBLE’ ELECTRICITY MAZE. ‘INVISIBLE’ BECAUSE THERE IT ISN’T THERE TO SEE. YOU OVERCAME MY POWERS OF MISDIRECTION SO EASILY… TOO EASILY!”  
He paused. “HOWEVER!! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE SO NONEXISTENT! I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT A PHYSICAL PUZZLE WILL EXIST BEYOND THIS NEXT PARTITION! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER! SO YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM!”  
He bounded through the partition with a cry of “NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!”  
I walked over to Sans. “So, uh... ‘invisible’ electricity maze, huh?”  
“yeah... when papyrus was making that one day... he accidentally shocked himself with a wire. our mom made him stop working on it so he didn’t end up frying his brain.” He shrugged. “eh... it’s just as well, i guess. he told me that he had no idea even how to make the orb work. it’s just a blue-painted volleyball. he just thought the idea looked cool in his head. oh well. anyways, i’d better go on ahead, i gotta go set up the puzzle.” Sans left the section through the opposite partition that Papyrus had gone through.  
I waited for about five minutes. During that time, I saw an urgent weather report on a laptop that was on the workbench. The weather report showed a huge pattern of heavy snow clouds flying over us and advised everyone to wear heavy clothing over the next few weeks as a result of the freak snow.  
The weather report had just turned off when Sans shoved aside the partition on the right side of the room. He waved me inside.  
Papyrus was standing at the far edge of the room. A piece of paper was lying on the ground between us. “GREETINGS! I HOPE YOU’RE READY TO BE AMAZED AND AWE-INSPIRED BY…” He looked down at the piece of paper. Then he glanced at Sans, who had walked over beside him. “(SANS!! WHERE’S THE PUZZLE!!!)”  
“it’s right there. on the floor. trust me, there’s no way they won’t be impressed by this one.”  
I walked over to the piece of paper on the floor and picked it up.  
“Monster Kidz Word Search?”  
Papyrus looked furious. “SANS!!! THAT’S THE BEST YOU COULD THINK OF???”  
Sans shrugged. “whoops. i knew i should have used today’s crossword instead.”  
Now Papyrus just looked annoyed. “WHAT!? CROSSWORD!? I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT!!! IN MY OPINION… JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST.”  
Sans seemed exasperated. “what? really, dude? that easy-peasy word scramble? that’s for babies.” I giggled in spite of myself.  
“UN. BELIEVEABLE. NEW KID! SOLVE THIS DISPUTE! WHICH IS HARDER, JUNIOR JUMBLE OR CROSSWORD?”  
I thought for a moment. “Honestly... Junior Jumble is really hard.” I answered, much to Papyrus’ delight.  
“HA! HA! YES! YOU MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT! IF YOU ALSO FIND JUNIOR JUMBLE SO DIFFICULT! NYEH! HEH! NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus left the section through a different partition.  
After he left, Sans came over to me. “thanks for saying ‘junior jumble’ just to appease my brother. yesterday he got stumped trying to ‘solve’ the horoscope.”  
“Actually,” I said. “I really do think Junior Jumble is harder.”  
Sans shrugged. “oh. well, to each their own, i guess.” I followed Papyrus through the next partition, eager to see what else he had made.  
In this section, I found no Papyrus, but a table with a plate of frozen spaghetti and a microwave on it. A note was taped to the microwave. “PLEASE ENJOY THIS SPAGHETTI, CAREFULLY COOKED TO PERFECTION BY ME! NYEH-HEH-HEH, PAPYRUS.”  
I wasn’t sure what to think. It was really nice of Papyrus to make me spaghetti, so I put it in the microwave and turned it on. Nothing happened. I checked the plug, and it turned out that the microwave was unplugged, and there was no outlet anywhere. I went to the next section to tell Papyrus that his spaghetti was too cold to eat. When I got there, Papyrus was waiting for me.  
“AH-HA! HOW DID YOU LIKE MY SPAGHETTI? AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY… IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME???”  
I told him that his spaghetti was still on the table, but he interrupted me before I could finish telling him why. “REALLY!? WOWIE… YOU RESISTED THE FLAVOR OF MY HOMECOOKED PASTA… JUST SO YOU COULD SHARE IT WITH ME??? FRET NOT! I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS… WILL MAKE YOU ALL THE PASTA YOU COULD EVER WANT! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH NYEH!”  
He seemed so happy, I didn’t have the heart to tell him the real reason I left the spaghetti.  
Papyrus rushed over to the far end of the section. “ANYWAY! BACK TO BUSINESS! YOU’RE GONNA LOVE THIS PUZZLE! IT WAS DESIGNED BY A VERY GOOD FRIEND OF MINE, AND PERFECTED BY ME, PAPYRUS! WHEN I SAY THE WORD, SANS WILL TAKE THESE COLORED TILES…” Papyrus gestured to a stack of flooring tiles in the corner. “AND PLACE THEM IN A RANDOMLY PATTERNED SIX BY EIGHT RECTANGLE! EACH COLOR HAS A DIFFERENT RULE ATTACHED TO IT! AHEM. RED TILES ARE IMPASSABLE! YOU CANNOT WALK ON THEM! YELLOW TILES ARE ALSO IMPASSABLE! YOU CANNOT WALK ON THEM EITHER! GREEN TILES ARE ALARM TILES! IF YOU STEP ON ONE OF THEM, YOU WILL HAE TO RESTART THE PUZZLE!! ORANGE TILES ARE ORANGE-SCENTED. THEY WILL MAKE YOU SMELL DELICIOUS! BLUE TILES ARE WATER TILES. SWIM THROUGH THEM IF YOU LIKE, BUT… IF YOU SMELL LIKE ORANGES!!! THE (IMAGINARY) PIRANHAS WILL BITE YOU. ALSO, IF A BLUE TILE IS NEXT TO A YELLOW TILE, YOU CANNOT GO ACROSS THE BLUE TILE EITHER! PURPLE TILES ARE SLIPPERY! YOU WILL SLIDE TO THE NEXT TILE! HOWEVER, THE SLIPPERY SOAP… SMELLS LIKE LEMONS!! WHICH (IMAGINARY) PIRANHAS DO NOT LIKE! PURPLE AND BLUE ARE OKAY! FINALLY, PINK TILES. THEY DON’T DO ANYTHING. STEP ON THEM ALL YOU LIKE. HOW WAS THAT!? UNDERSTAND???”  
I was thoroughly confused. “Umm... No, I don’t.”  
Papyrus furrowed his brow. “OKAY… I GUESS I’LL REPEAT MYSELF. RED TILES ARE IMPASSABLE. YELLOW TILES ARE IMPASSABLE ALSO. BLUE TILES MAKE YOU RESTART THE PUZZLE. GREEN TILES ARE WATER TILES.”  
I interrupted him. “Wait, I thought blue tiles were water tiles and green tiles make you restart the puzzle.”  
Papyrus paused. “OH. UM, YES, THAT IS RIGHT. LET’S, UM, MOVE ON. ORANGE TILES ARE ORANGE SCENTED. IF YOU STEP ON ORANGE, DON’T STEP ON GREEN. I MEAN BLUE! BROWN TILES ARE…” He stopped. “WAIT!!! THERE ARE NO BROWN TILES… PURPLE TILES ARE LEMON SCENTED… WAIT, WHY AREN’T THE YELLOW ONES LEMONY? THE BLUE ONES ARE WATER ONES! PINK TILES ARE… UM… I DON’T… REMEMBER??? WAIT!!! THOSE ONES DON’T DO ANYTHING.” He exhaled. “OKAY! DO YOU UNDERSTAND BETTER NOW!?”  
I didn’t, but I didn’t want to confuse poor Papyrus any more. “Let’s just do it.”  
“GOOD! OH! ONE LAST THING! WHEN I SAY THE WORD… WE MUST BOTH CLOSE OUR EYES! THEN, SANS WILL LAY OUT THE TILES IN A PATTERN… THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE! NOT EVEN I WILL KNOW THE SOLUTION! NYEH HEH HEH! SANS! MAKE THE PUZZLE!”  
“ok.” I closed my eyes and I could hear Sans placing tiles on the floor.  
After a while, I heard Sans call “ok, all finished.”  
I opened my eyes.  
To my surprise, the “maze” was simply a solid path of pink tiles bordered by red tiles. Sans stood beside it, grinning.  
Papyrus glared at his brother. “SANS! YOU LAZYBONES!!! COULDN’T YOU THINK OF SOMETHING MORE CREATIVE THAN THAT? WHY, THEY CAN JUST WALK RIGHT THROUGH IT! WHAT KIND OF A PUZZLE IS THAT???”  
“an easy one.”  
“THAT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION, SANS!”  
“oh.”  
“ENOUGH! I AM GOING TO THE FINAL PUZZLE! ONE THAT WILL MOST ASSUREDLY IMPRESS THE NEW KID AND WIN ME A WONDERFUL NEW FRIENDSHIP! HEH NYEH HEH NYEH HEH NYEH HEH NYEH HEH!!!”  
Papyrus left the section. I walked through the ridiculous “puzzle” and went through the final partition.  
Papyrus was standing in the middle of the section. A long pathway was marked in tape. “NYEH! TREMBLE IN AWE, NEW KID! THIS IS MY FINAL AND MOST IMPRESSIVE PUZZLE!”  
Sans walked over and stood beside his brother.  
Papyrus snapped his fingers. “BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!” Sans jumped up and started pushed some wheeled metal boxes at the edges of the marked pathway. I could see four of them. Two appeared to have cardboard spears attached to them, one had a cardboard tiki torch with a barbecue lighter tied to it, and the last one was an incredibly realistic cannon. Then Papyrus stood on a stepladder and hung a cardboard spiky ball from the ceiling in a marked hole. Then he picked up a cardboard box. He tied the cardboard box to another hole, and then opened and deconstructed it. A small, white dog was hanging there, panting and barking. It was only hanging a foot from the ground, so it wasn’t in danger. I couldn’t help laughing at the sight of the dog.  
Papyrus grinned proudly and held up a large red button. “WHEN I PUSH THIS BUTTON, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE (PLAYGROUND BALLS)! (PAPIER-M CHÉ) SPIKES WILL SWING! (CARDBOARD) BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY BACK AND FORTH OR UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!!! ARE YOU READY!? BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!”  
Papyrus slammed the button with his palm. Immediately, a few of the parts on the boxes began to spark.  
Sans looked at his brother. “well? what’s the holdup?”  
Papyrus looked flustered. “HOLDUP!? WHAT HOLDUP!? I’M… I’M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!” He pressed the button again. A few of the boxes began to smoke. Thankfully, there was no smoke coming from the hole where the dog was attached.  
Sans looked at the spectacle. “that, uh, doesn’t look very activated.”  
Papyrus’s face was flushed now. “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? OF COURSE IT’S ACTIVATED!” He pushed the button another time. All five parts besides the dog caught on fire.  
I jumped back from the nearest fire and grabbed a conveniently located bucket of water to put it out.  
Sans grabbed another bucket that was in the corner and doused the flames. Papyrus looked embarrassed. “WELL!!! THIS CHALLENGE!!! IT SEEMS… MAYBE… TOO BARBARIC TO IMPRESS THE NEW KID WITH. YEAH! WE CAN’T USE THIS ONE!!! I HAVE STANDARDS!!! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY IT GOES!” Papyrus untied the dog from the ceiling and let it go. It ran out a hole in the wall.  
Papyrus turned around and blushed. “WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?! THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS!! NYEH!! HEH!! …HEH???” With that, he abruptly ran out of the garage.  
Sans finished putting out the fire. “i’d better go talk to him. he’s pretty upset.” Sans followed Papyrus out of the garage.  
I just stood there, thinking for a while. Papyrus seemed really nice. He had gone to so much work just to make friends with me. He had tried to make an electricity maze, had cooked me spaghetti, he bought a whole bunch of floor tiles, and he even built a gauntlet of deadly terror! It wasn’t his fault that none of those things worked out the way he planned. He had worked so hard, and I had thought that he was going to beat me up! I had to go and help cheer him up.  
I rushed out the door.  
Papyrus had his head in his hands. Sans was sitting next to him with his hand on his shoulder. “I TRIED SO HARD TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THEM, SANS…” he said, sobbing.  
I squatted down beside him. “And you succeeded.”  
Papyrus looked up at me. “R-REALLY?” He asked shakily.  
I smiled. “Of course! Even if your puzzles didn’t turn out as well as you thought they would, you still accomplished what you intended! You impressed me!”  
Papyrus smiled weakly. “YES, I GUESS THEY WERE PRETTY GOOD, I SUPPOSE.”  
“Well, except for that word search, but that was Sans’ fault.”  
Sans grinned. “guilty as charged.”  
“And it isn’t just the puzzles that I like, either,” I continued.  
“WH-WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” asked Papyrus.  
“I like YOU, that’s what I mean!” I said. “You’re a really cool guy, Papyrus. I want to be your friend.”  
Papyrus’ jaw dropped. He started to say something, but no words came out. At least, no words that I could understand. He was mumbling something that only he seemed to be hearing. A look of realization dawned on his face, and he gave me an apologetic glance before pulling out his phone.  
I was confused at first, but Sans seemed to understand, and took his own phone out of his sweatshirt pocket. He opened it, and Papyrus started typing something on his. Sans read his phone and nodded to himself. Then he handed it to me.  
“my brother isn’t up for talking right now…” Sans told me. “so… he wants to text you instead.”  
I nodded. I was still a little puzzled, but I took the phone and looked at it. A single text from Papyrus was on the screen.  
“DO YOU REALLY MEAN THAT?”  
“Yeah!” I typed on Sans’ phone. “You’re super nice, really funny, and I love your enthusiasm.”  
“THANK YOU SO MUCH!” Papyrus texted. “UM… WHAT WAS YOUR NAME?”  
“Frisk.” I told him.  
Papyrus nodded, then surprised me by speaking out loud. It was rather quiet, and a little hard to understand, but he was trying.  
“FRISK. I’M… I SHOULDN’T HAVE TRIED SO HARD TO IMPRESS YOU WITH MY PUZZLES…”  
I was about to assure him otherwise, but he kept going.  
“I NOW REALIZE… THAT I SHOULD HAVE JUST ASKED YOU TO BE FRIENDS WITH ME INSTEAD!!! EVEN IF IT’S… A LITTLE BIT… HARD FOR ME… I’M SURE WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN ALONG MUCH BETTER! ESPECIALLY ONCE YOU SAW THE HIDDEN DEPTHS OF ALL MY OTHER TALENTS!” Papyrus seemed to be regaining some of his confidence.  
“Like what?” I asked, curiously.  
“OH, LET’S SEE! MAKING SPAGHETTI… BEING A COOL FRIEND… UM…”  
I stopped him there. “You know what? That’s good enough for me.”  
Papyrus leapt up from his spot, fully reinvigorated. “I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!! I HAVE SUCCEEDED IN BEFRIENDING THE NEW KID! WOWIE!! WHO KNEW THAT ALL I HAD TO DO TO MAKE PALS… WAS GIVE PEOPLE AWFUL PUZZLES??” He laughed. “NYEH HEH HEH! MY THANKS TO YOU, FRISK! NOW I SHALL RETURN TO MY RESIDENCE! FAREWELL! I LOOK FORWARD TO HANGING OUT AND/OR DATING AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!” He practically floated off through the snow back toward his house.  
Sans turned toward me. “well, that went well, in the end. he’s been waiting for a new kid to come to school for months.”  
“Why?” I asked.  
“he wanted to make a fresh start with them. he’s not exactly what you’d call, um... popular. i mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s cool, it’s just... sometimes other people don’t think he’s cool, even though we both know that he is cool, cool?”  
“Yeah. He is cool.”  
Sans stood up. “cool. see you around, kid.”  
He walked off toward his house. I stood up, too, and braced myself for the long, cold walk home. Then I heard Sans turn around. “hey, kid. uhhh... just thought i’d ask... you know where you’re going, right?”  
“Um, sort of?” I replied. “I mean, not really, but... I’ll get there eventually!” I said, or as best I could through my chattering teeth.  
I turned to leave, but I stopped when I felt something slide over my arms. I looked over my shoulder. Sans had taken off his jacket and was putting it on me. “here, take this. i mean, it’s not like it’ll help me here, right? i’ve got a house with a heater, but you? you’ll be lucky to get home without freezing like a popsicle if you stay in that getup.”  
I was taken aback. “Wait, really?” I asked. “N-No, it’s okay, I can just-”  
Sans smiled. “it’s no big deal, kiddo. just give it back at school on monday.”  
I gave him a big smile too. “Wow, thanks, Sans! I will. You can count on its safe return!”  
He waved as I hiked off down the street.  
The coat made me feel much better as I crunched down the sidewalk, even if it was a little too big for me. As I trudged along, I heard some shouts from around the corner.  
The first voice I heard was loud and aggressive. “Jerry! Interrupting us is hecka rude, dude!”  
“Yeah, that’s not ‘ice!’” This voice was different, softer, but only a little bit.  
“Radical pun, bro!” the first voice said.  
I hurried along and turned the corner to see what the commotion was about.  
I saw three people in the front yard of a large house. The lawn was blanketed in snow, and a fourth person lay sprawled in the snow on the lawn, rubbing his head like somebody had pushed him. “Go on! Get out of here!” the kid standing in front of the guy on the ground yelled at him.  
I recognized the kid on the ground as Jerry, that guy who had called me a nerd because I had read the syllabus on the first day of school. The kid in front of Jerry glared at him and crossed their arms in front of their chest. They wore a bright blue fedora. The other two people were still talking about puns.  
Jerry looked up at them with sad eyes. “I just wanted to come inside because it’s COLD. Does ANYONE care?”  
The kid glared at Jerry even more forcefully. “No. You should just go home if you want to get warm!”  
Jerry stood up and brushed himself off. “Fine. Fine. Fine. KA-Sigh. I’ll just trudge back out and freeze to death in the snow...” He slumped down the sidewalk and disappeared from sight.  
Jerry had a jacket on, so I assumed that being cold was just an excuse to hang out with “the cool kids.”   
Because that’s what they call themselves. The “Cool” kids. They all have names related to snow and ice (don’t ask me why) and they all hang out together, heckling people and making bad puns about snow.  
I didn’t really know the kid with the hat, and that hat looked dangerous, so I stepped back toward the two people in the back.  
They were still deeply discussing pun theory. When I came up to them, the one with the button that said “Class Clown” turned to me. “Oh, hi! I’m Snowdrake! It’s ‘ice’ to meet you!”  
The one with the spiky hair and sunglasses looked bored. “You made that one, like, five minutes ago, dude.”  
The punster glanced at the other kid. “Shhh! They don’t know that, Chilldrake!”  
I didn’t really know what to make of the situation just yet, so I tried to ease the tension between us. “Well, I’ll be happy to break the ‘ice’ between us sometime!” I joked.  
Chilldrake laughed. “Haha! Good one, kid! That was actually funny!”  
Snowdrake, on the other hand, dropped his head to the floor and mumbled “It’s better when I do it...”  
Chilldrake seemed to think I was cool, now that I had made a pun that he liked. “Hey! You’re kinda okay, little dude!”  
Snowdrake looked scandalized. “But! ...Chilly! What about me!?!”  
Chilldrake glanced at Snowdrake. “Snowy, uh...”  
Just then, the kid with the hat strode over, satisfied that Jerry really was leaving, and glared at me. “So, who are YOU? Are you here to steal my hat?”  
Chilldrake whispered in my ear. “Oh no. Ever since Icecap found that hat, they’ve been insufferable. They won’t let anyone get within arm’s reach of them, not even us!”  
Icecap was still glaring at me. “Well?”  
I shook my head. “No! No! I’m not here to steal your hat! I came to talk to these two here about puns!”  
Icecap looked stunned. “What? You didn’t come to look at my hat?! I don’t believe it!”  
I ignored them and turned to Snowdrake and Chilldrake to continue discussing puns and their uses in the real world.  
Icecap was angry now. “HELLO???” They pointed to their head. “My hat’s up here.”  
Without warning, I suddenly leapt out and snatched Icecap’s hat from their head.  
Icecap was shocked. They stared at me, wide-eyed and mouth open. “I... I...”  
“You still look fine!” I said. “Your hair looks great when it’s not covered by that hat.”  
“Yeah... I like my hair too...” they said sadly. “But... I just want everyone to see me as cool.”  
“Are you kidding? With a name like Icecap, you can’t possibly NOT be cool.”  
Icecap chuckled weakly. Chilldrake and Snowdrake laughed uproariously. “So I can still impress people?”  
I nodded vigorously. “Yep!”  
Icecap stopped hyperventilating, and even started to take deep breaths.  
“Well... that’s good... Thanks. I think I can deal without my headgear now.”  
I smiled. “Well, that’s just great, but what do I do with this?” I held up the hat.  
Icecap waved their hand dismissively. “Oh, throw it back in the garbage for all I care.”  
“Will do!”  
As I turned to go back down the sidewalk, I saw Jerry army-crawling down the front lawn in an effort not to be seen.  
It wasn’t working very well, mostly due to the fact Jerry’s jacket was black, which didn’t exactly camouflage with the snow on the ground.  
Then Icecap saw him.  
“Jerry! Get! Off! The lawn!” They screamed at him.  
Snowdrake and Chilldrake joined in.  
“Yeah, Jerry! Get off! Go on!”  
Jerry leapt up and started charging off down the sidewalk.  
“Off! Off! Off! Off! Off! Off!”


	5. Chapter 5

Soon, it was Saturday. I woke up, Mom made pancakes, Mom left to go grocery shopping, I played video games with Dad, and then...  
Then I realized...  
Saturdays are BORING!!!  
I flopped on my bed, waiting for some brilliant flash of inspiration to come to me.  
And, miracle of miracles, it did!  
I yelled to Dad that I was going out, then put on my shoes, put on my sweatshirt, grabbed Sans’ coat, climbed out my window, leaped from the porch roof to the big maple tree and then from there down to the ground. I ran around the neighborhood, trying to find one... specific... house.  
Then I saw a house. A house that I remembered quite well. A house with Christmas lights hanging over it and a wreath on the door, and a familiar red-scarf-clad figure standing in front. I waved. “Hi, Papyrus! You wanna do something?”  
“HELLO, FRISK! SURE! YOU ACTUALLY CAME! YOU MUST BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS...” He thought about for a while, then nervously added “BEFORE WE GET STARTED, I, UM...I WANT TO GET SOMETHING STRAIGHT.”  
“What?” I asked.  
“IS THIS A HANGOUT OR A DATE?”  
I was taken aback. “I, um, uh...I don’t know?”  
“MAYBE IT’S BOTH! HOW ABOUT… A DANGOUT!”  
I couldn’t help laughing. “I’d rather have a date than a ‘dangout’.”  
“OKAY THEN! SURE! LET’S DO IT!”  
“Uh, g-great!” I said, but that really wasn’t what I meant at all. But Papyrus seemed excited, so I decided to go along with it.   
“I’D LIKE TO TAKE YOU SOMEWHERE I LIKE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME…” Papyrus walked ten feet from his front porch, turned around, and walked back to it. “MY HOUSE!” I slapped my palm to my forehead. Papyrus held the door open for me and we walked in. “WELCOME TO SENIC MY HOUSE!” he said. “FEEL FREE TO TAKE A LOOK AROUND.”  
“Okay,” I said. “Cool!” I walked over to the couch and sat down. I heard a jingling noise and stood back up. I sat back down and heard it again. I rooted around in the couch and came up with a big handful of coins.  
“Um,” I said. “These were in your couch.”  
“YOU FOUND THOSE IN MY COUCH... AND GAVE THEM BACK TO ME??? WOWIE!!! AS THANKS, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL LET YOU KEEP THEM!”  
“Oh, okay! Thanks!” I shoved them in my pocket.  
I took another look around. There was a joke book on a table near the door. Knowing how legendary Sans’ jokes were, I decided to take a look and see where he got his inspiration. I opened the book and inside – was a quantum physics book. Puzzled, I opened that book. Inside that book was another joke book. Inside that book was another quantum physics book. I chuckled, and decided to stop there.  
Papyrus had a big TV in front of the couch in his living room. It was cool, but what really caught my attention was the sock next to it with a pile of sticky notes sitting on top of it. I was intrigued.  
The first note said “SANS! PLEASE PICK UP YOUR SOCK!”  
“ok”  
“DON’T PUT IT DOWN! MOVE IT!”  
“ok”  
I started laughing.  
“YOU MOVED IT TWO INCHES! MOVE IT TO YOUR ROOM!”  
“ok.”  
“AND DON’T BRING IT BACK!”  
“ok”  
“IT’S STILL HERE!”  
“didn’t you just tell me not to bring it back to my room?”  
“OH, FORGET IT!” This was hysterical. I full on doubled over with laughter. Papyrus rushed over to me. “WHAT IS IT? ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU HURT?”  
“Haha... I’m fine... but... that SOCK!” I started laughing all over again.  
“OH, YES,” said Papyrus with a look of disdain. “NEITHER OF US WILL MOVE IT, SO IT JUST STAYS HERE.”  
“That’s funny,” I chuckled. I took a peek upstairs. There were two doors, one with a sign that said “NO GIRLS ALLOWED. NO BOYS ALLOWED. PAPYRUS ALLOWED,” which I assumed was Papyrus’ room. So the other door must be Sans’. But –  
“HOLY COW, PAPYRUS, WHY IS THERE FIRE COMING FROM YOUR BROTHER’S ROOM?!?!?”  
“WHAT?!?” Papyrus rushed up the stairs. Just as he reached the top, the fire, which was coming out from beneath the door, instantly stopped. “I DON’T SEE ANYTHING. YOU MUST HAVE BEEN MISTAKEN, FRISK.”  
“It was there! I saw it!” Papyrus went back down the stairs.  
Immediately, the fire started up again. “It’s back! It’s back!”  
Papyrus dashed back up the stairs. The fire stopped. “SANS!” he yelled. “STOP DOING THAT!”  
I heard a muffled reply. “oh, fine.” When Papyrus went back down the stairs, the fire didn’t come back out. I left Sans’ coat by the door and went back down the stairs and into the kitchen. Papyrus sped over like a madman and watched me. I changed my mind, and went over to the TV. Papyrus raced back over to where he had been standing a minute ago. Feeling curious, I pressed the ON button.  
“OOH!” Papyrus exclaimed. “IT’S ALMOST TIME FOR MY FAVORITE SHOW!” The TV came on in that weird “color bars” thing where there are a bunch of colors lined up along the screen. A fast jingle began to play.  
“STAY TUNED FOR A NEW PROGRAM – MTT” Then the TV turned off. I turned to Papyrus.  
“WHAT? IT’S USUALLY BETTER THAN THIS! DON’T JUDGE ME!”  
“Okay, okay, I won’t judge you!” I laughed. I went back into the kitchen, and again, Papyrus sprinted over to the kitchen with me. He looked exhausted.  
“YOU’RE GIVING ME A REAL WORKOUT. I NEVER KNEW BEING A GOOD HOST COULD BE SO TIRING!”  
I didn’t answer, mostly because I was too busy staring at Papyrus’ tall sink. “IMPRESSED? I INCREASED THE HEIGHT OF MY SINK! NOW I CAN FIT MORE BONES UNDER IT! TAKE A LOOKSY!”  
I opened the sink. Inside was a small, white dog. He was chewing guiltily on a bone. Papyrus was stunned “WHAT? CATCH THAT MEDDLING CANINE!” The dog began racing towards the door. I raced out of the kitchen, charged the dog, and did a spectacular flying leap... And landed with a thump on the ground.  
“CURSES!” Papyrus angrily stomped his foot. Suddenly, Sans’ door opened and he stuck his head out with his trombone. *wah wah waaaahh...*  
“SANS!” yelled Papyrus. “STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!”  
I got up, dusted myself off, and started for the stairs.  
“WAIT A MOMENT!” Papyrus interjected. “BEFORE WE GO UP TO MY ROOM, I WOULD LIKE TO DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO TWO THINGS!”  
“Oh?” I replied quizzically. I went back into the kitchen.  
“YES! FIRST ONE!” With a dramatic flourish, Papyrus gestured toward the wastebasket. “THAT… IS THE TRASH CAN. FEEL FREE TO VISIT IT ANYTIME!”  
I laughed. “Thanks for introducing me!” I nodded to the trash can. “How do you do?” I asked them.  
“SECOND THING!” continued Papyrus. With another dramatic flourish, he revealed...the oven. “THAT… IS OUR OVEN. I ENJOY BAKING QUICHES IN IT. ALAS, I DO NOT HAVE ONE FOR YOU TODAY. ONE TIME SANS ATTEMPTED TO MAKE ONE, BUT IT WAS… WEIRD. IT WAS VERY SUGARY AND HAD A FLAKEY, NON-QUICHE-LIKE CRUST.”  
I laughed. “We call that a pie, my friend.”  
“OH.” He paused. “WELL, IF YOU’RE DONE LOOKING AROUND, WE CAN GO INTO MY ROOM AND… DO… WHATEVER IT IS PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY DATE???”  
I was a little nervous as to what he might mean, but I agreed anyway. We walked up the stairs and into his room.  
The door slammed shut.  
“Wow,” I said as I looked around. “Cool room. Nice... uh... race car bed.”  
“THANK YOU! I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL I CAN LEARN HOW TO DRIVE! WIND IN MY HAIR, SUN ON MY SKIN... BUT THAT’S NOT FOR ANOTHER YEAR. SO INSTEAD I CRUISE WHILE I SNOOZE.”  
“And OH! Cool action figures!”  
“WHY THANK YOU!” said Papyrus. “I HAVE AMASSED QUITE THE COLLECTION, HAVE I NOT?”  
“You sure have!” I agreed. “How did you get so many?”  
“LET’S JUST SAY THEY’RE FROM A CHUBBY SMILING MAN WHO LIKES TO SURPRISE PEOPLE.” Papyrus grinned. “YEAH! THAT’S RIGHT! SANTA!!!!”  
“Aw, that’s nice.” I took another look around. “Whoa, no way! You have a computer in your room!”  
“YES! I’M QUITE POPULAR ON THE INTERNET. I’M JUST A DOZEN AWAY FROM A DOUBLE DIGIT FOLLOWER COUNT!”  
Wait a second. “But... but that means... oh forget it.”  
“OF COURSE, FAME HAS A STEEP PRICE,” Papyrus continued. “A JEALOUS TROLL HAS BESEIGED MY ONLINE PERSONA. ALWAYS SENDING ME BAD PUNS IN A GOOFY FONT...”  
I couldn’t suppress an amused smile.  
“WHAT’S SO FUNNY?”  
“Oh, nothing.”  
“WELL THEN, IF YOU’RE FINISHED LOOKING AROUND... DO YOU WANT TO START THE DATE?”  
“Um...sure,” I replied nervously.  
“OKAY! DATING START! HERE WE ARE! ON OUR DATE!”  
“Cool.” I still wasn’t entirely sure what was going on.  
“I’VE ACTUALLY NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE...” Papyrus looked a little nervous himself. “BUT DON’T WORRY! YOU CAN’T SPELL ‘PREPARED’ WITHOUT SEVERAL LETTERS FROM MY NAME!" He pulled a little book out of his back pocket. “I SNAGGED AN OFFICIAL DATING HANDBOOK FROM THE LIBRARY! LET’S SEE WHAT IT SAYS...” He opened the book and started thumbing through the pages. “STEP ONE: BE SURE YOU WANT TO GO ON A DATE,” he read. “WELL, I’M PRETTY SURE WE BOTH DO...SO THAT WORKS OUT GREAT!” he said excitedly.  
“Cool!” I said. I still wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but Papyrus seemed to be enjoying himself, so I just decided to go with it. “What’s Step Two?”  
“STEP TWO: ASK THE OTHER PERSON ON A DATE! OKAY...” Papyrus cleared his throat. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GO ON THAT DATE THAT YOU ASKED ME TO GO ON EARLIER THIS MORNING!”  
“Oh......okay?”  
“EXCELLENT! NOW, STEP THREE: MAKE UP YOUR CLOTHES AND HAIR, IN ORDER TO SHOW THEM THAT YOU CARE. WAIT...” Papyrus started looking at me really weirdly. “YOU’RE WEARING CLOTHES RIGHT NOW! AND... WOW! EARLIER TODAY, YOU WERE WEARING CLOTHES TOO! COULD IT BE...YOU’VE WANTED TO DATE ME FROM THE VERY BEGINNING! WAS YOUR INTEREST IN ME... PREDESTINED???”  
“Well, I don’t believe in destiny, so, no.”  
“I DO!” exclaimed Papyrus. “SO YES! YOUR INTEREST IN ME WAS PREDESTINED! N-NO! YOUR DATING POWER! YOU’RE WAY BETTER AT DATING THAN I AM! BUT YOU HAVEN’T BESTED ME YET!” He laughed nervously. “N-NYEH HEH HEH! I, TOO, CAN WEAR CLOTHING! IN FACT, I ALWAYS WEAR MY ‘SPECIAL’ CLOTHES UNDERNEATH MY REGULAR CLOTHES! JUST IN CASE SOMEBODY HAPPENS TO ASK ME ON A DATE! WAIT THERE FOR ONE SECOND!”  
Papyrus dashed into the closet. In a couple seconds, he came out wearing an… interesting outfit. He wore a crop top with the words “Cool Dude” across the chest. The sleeves looked like basketballs. He also wore short shorts, tennis shoes, and a backwards baseball cap. “BEHOLD! NYEH! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY SPECIAL STYLE?”  
“Wow!” I exclaimed. “I love it!”  
“NO!!! A GENUINE COMPLIMENT...!” Papyrus gasped. “HOWEVER...YOU DON’T TRULY UNDERSTAND THE HIDDEN POWER OF THIS OUTFIT! THEREFORE...WHAT YOU JUST SAID IS INVALID!” He pointed a finger at me. “THIS DATE WILL NEVER GO ANY FURTHER...UNLESS YOU FIND THE “SECRET” IN MY “SECRET STYLE”!” Papyrus spread his arms wide. “I INVITE YOU TO INSPECT ME!”  
“All right...” I thought, “His shoulders have basketballs on them. That seems a little suspicious.” I put a hand on his shoulder.  
“AH! YOU WISH TO CARESS MY BICEPS? VERY WELL! I ACCEPT!”  
“Um, never mind.” I decided to try his shirt.  
“MY SHIRT IS VERY NEAT, IS IT NOT? IT DIDN’T ORIGINALLY SAY ‘COOL’. BUT I IMPROVED IT.”  
“Hmmm....Ah hah!” I reached up and took off Papyrus’ hat. Underneath it was a present.  
“MY HAT? MY HAT! SO YOU FOUND IT! A PRESENT! FOR YOU!”  
“Oh, wow! Thanks, Papyrus!” I opened the box.  
“DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS?”  
“Um... Nope.” I didn’t.  
“OF COURSE YOU DON’T! THIS IS SILKEN, ARTISAN SPAGHETTI, FINELY AGED IN AN OAKEN CASK! AND THEN COOKED BY ME, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS!”  
“Wow.” I took a small bite. My face reflexively scrunched up. The taste was indescribable...  
“WHAT A PASSIONATE EXPRESSION!” Papyrus exclaimed excitedly. “YOU MUST REALLY LIKE MY COOKING! AND BY EXTENTION... ME! MAYBE EVEN MORE THAN I DO! YOU’RE EVEN BETTER AT DATING THAN I THOUGHT! AGH!” he yelled. URGH! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”  
Papyrus managed to compose himself. “FRISK. I’M SORRY. IT SEEMS YOU HAVE FINALLY REVEALED YOUR FEELINGS FOR ME. BUT, ALAS... I DO NOT SHARE THEM. I THOUGHT THAT GOING ON A DATE WOULD HELP... BUT I JUST LIKE YOU AS A FRIEND.”  
“Oh, okay. That’s all right, Papyrus,” `I said.  
Papyrus looked very concerned. “YOU MUST BE SO DISAPPOINTED...WORRY NOT! I’LL HELP YOU THROUGH THESE TRYING TIMES! AFTER ALL, YOU ARE VERY GREAT. IT WOULD BE TRAGIC TO LOSE YOUR FRIENDSHIP.”  
“Aw, thanks! And don’t worry about it. I still had fun. Friends?” I held out my fist for a fist bump.  
“FRIENDS.”  
He bumped my fist.


	6. Chapter 6

CRASH! That was the sound of me, falling out of bed. THUD! That was the sound of me, rolling into the wall. MREEOWWRRR! That was the sound of my cat getting hit by a rolling me. I got up from the floor, discovered that it was not my mom who had tipped me off the bed in a desperate attempt to wake me up, and apologized to my cat.  
It was a week after the “dangout” I had with Papyrus, and when we got back to school on Monday, we both acted like it had never happened, but I was happy to have a lunch table that I belonged in for once!  
“Sorry, Monster.” He gave me a vengeful glare. I gave him a scratch behind the ears. All past mistreatment was forgotten as Monster leapt up to sit on my lap and get the full treatment.   
After about ten minutes of scratching and petting, Monster leaped off my lap and ran down the hall like his tail was on fire.  
I think he heard the can opener.  
After getting dressed, I felt the sudden urge to go somewhere. I couldn’t wait for Mom to get up and make breakfast, because Dad, whom I heard feeding Monster in the kitchen, couldn’t be trusted to make even cold cereal by himself!  
So I decided to leave a note for Mom and go to the park. I climbed out the window, and instead of going down by way of the tree like I usually do, I did a jump down from the porch roof and onto our trampoline. I gradually stopped bouncing, got off the trampoline, and raced out of our yard. When I got to the park, I went to an area I had never been to before. I was in the mood for something new and exciting. I took a random path and started out.  
The new area was breathtakingly beautiful. I was full of waterfalls, and water that was so blue it didn’t look real. I dipped a finger in it just to be sure. The water felt cold and icy, but also refreshing and hopeful. There were stepping stones leading through the water. I maneuvered over them and found a massive clump of tall grass. I pushed through the grasses. They whipped around and stung my face, but I continued.  
Eventually, I stumbled through the grasses...and came upon a familiar figure sitting on one of the benches, his eyes closed.  
As I walked forward, Sans opened his eyes, noticed me, smiled, and sat up on the bench, scooting over to make room for me. “oh. hey, kid.”  
I sat down beside him sheepishly. “Sorry if I-”  
“eh, it’s fine. besides, i wasn’t even asleep. i was just contemplating life and nature.”  
I stared at him. “Really?” I asked in disbelief.  
Sans smiled faintly. “nah. you know me better than that. of course I was sleeping.”  
I chuckled to myself. Sans never does change.  
Sans closed his eyes again. “hey. you doing anything right now?”  
“No, why else would I be at the park?”  
“heh. yeah, me too. anyway, i know a nice place close by, and they make the best cheese fries. wanna come with me and get some grub?”  
I hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast, and cheese fries sounded pretty good. “Sure!” I agreed.  
“cool.” Sans opened his eyes and got up from the bench. “come with me. i know a shortcut.” I followed Sans as he cut through a few bushes, pushed through clumps of grasses, and crawled through a small tunnel through the hedge around the park that looked suspiciously man-made. After we popped out of the crawl space, there we were, standing right by the front door of a place called Grillby’s.  
Sans grinned at my openmouthed expression. “fast shortcut, huh?”  
He opened the door. A blast of hot air hit me square in the face. It smelled like burgers, fries, and triple-thick chocolate milkshakes. I sighed in relief. It was freezing outside. Sans smiled. “ya like that? that’s the breeze of grease. i call it...a greeze.” I groaned involuntarily. “please. after you.” Sans held the door for me as I walked into the pub.  
The pub was even warmer on the inside, and it smelled like salt. It was a comfortable establishment, with a wooden floor, a shelf full of various oddments behind the counter, and a jukebox in one corner, but it looked extremely broken.  
Sans waved a greeting to the patrons. “hey, everyone.”  
The customers all greeted Sans warmly, like he was an old friend, which, I realized, he probably was. One guy sitting at the counter who was, frankly, really ugly, asked Sans “Hey, Sans, weren’t you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?”  
Sans grinned and said “nah. i haven’t had breakfast in at least a half hour. you must be thinking of brunch.”  
The entire bar roared with laughter. I laughed too, even though I didn’t exactly understand what the joke was.  
Sans gestured to two empty seats at the counter. “here. get comfy.”  
“Thanks.” I sat down.  
*pbbthhhbthhhbbbbb...* I felt something squishy on my rear, and the most ridiculous sound ever produced by humanity was emitted from the seat underneath me.  
Sans sat down beside me. “whoops. be careful where you sit around here. sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats.”  
I gave him an annoyed look but said nothing.  
“anyway, let’s order. whaddaya want?”  
I looked at the menu thoughtfully. “Hmmm...I think I’ll have the cheese fries. You know, just to make sure they meet my standards of deliciousness. It’s a dirty job, I’m telling you, but someone has to do it.” I gave him a teasing grin.  
He smiled. “heh. looks like I’m not the only one who can make jokes around here. anyway, cheese fries, huh? that sounds pretty good.” He turned to the bartender, a man with rectangular glasses and red hair that was gelled up into a dynamic ’do that looked like flames. “grillby, we’ll have a double order of fries.”  
Grillby nodded, turned, and silently walked into the kitchen.  
After a moment of silence, Sans turned to me. “so, what do you think...of my brother? cool or uncool?”  
I didn’t even need to think. Papyrus was the nicest goofball I’d ever met. “Oh, cool, definitely.”  
Sans nodded. “of course he’s cool,” he said matter-of-factly. “you’d be cool too if you wore that outfit all the time. he’d only take that thing off if he absolutely had to. oh, well. at least he washes it. and by that I mean he wears it in the shower.”  
I giggled. I was about to say something else, but before I could, Grillby walked back into the bar with two large dishes of cheese fries.  
“oop. here comes the grub.” Grillby set down them down in front of us. Sans produced a bottle of ketchup, seemingly from thin air. “want some ketchup?”   
“No thanks.” I wanted to experience the goodness of the fries without the intruding flavor of ketchup.  
Sans shrugged. “more for me.” He put the ketchup bottle to his lips and proceeded to chug the entire bottle. I gagged reflexively. Sans gave me a quizzical look. “what?” he asked.  
“N-Nothing,” I said, still grossed out.  
Sans continued the conversation. “anyway, cool or not, you gotta admit papyrus tries real hard.”  
I nodded emphatically. I looked down at my cheese fries. I tried one. As soon as I bit into it, warm cheesy goodness spread all over my tongue. The fry itself was warm and crisp, fried perfectly. “Mmmmmmmm...These really are good!”  
Sans nodded. He had five in his mouth and was reaching for another. “i know, right?” he said with his mouth full.  
We ate for a while. Grillby began to wipe the counter. After a while, I noticed that Sans had stopped eating and was thinking hard about something. He finally turned toward me and said quietly “hey. I got a question for ya.” He ate another fry. Then he spoke in an unusually serious voice. All the light seemed to drain from the room, except for right around us, almost as if we were in a spotlight. The chattering of the other patrons of the pub faded from my ears. “have you ever heard of a guy with golden hair and a green sweater?”  
I stopped chewing immediately and stared at him. I knew he had to mean Flowey. I nodded vigorously, my mouth full. Sans raised his eyebrows. “so you’ve heard of him. i myself have no idea who papyrus is talking about. see, sometimes, in the evenings, when our parents are asleep, papyrus talks to me about a kid with golden hair and a green sweater. offering him flattery, encouragement.... advice. predictions. spooky, huh? anyway, i’m not into gossip, so, if you do know who it is he’s talking about, don’t tell me, but...just...keep an eye out, ok?”  
I was dying to tell him what I knew, but I wanted to respect his wish about not gossiping. Instead, I told him I would keep an eye out, and we both finished our fries.  
When we finished, Sans got up out of his seat. “welp. i’ve been gone a long time. i gotta go home and make breakfast for papyrus.” He turned toward Grillby, who was holding out his hand demandingly. “oh, by the way...i’m flat broke. can you foot the bill? it’s just $10000.” I gave him an annoyed look. He couldn’t fool me that easily. “heh, i was only joking. grillby, put it on my tab,” He started toward the door, but he stopped and turned around halfway there.  
“What is it?” I asked.  
Sans had a puzzled expression on his face. “i was going to say something, but i forgot.” He then turned and left, with a wisp of chilly air from outside trailing in after him.  
I sighed, chuckled to myself, tipped Grillby 5 dollars, and left the pub.


	7. Chapter 7

The lunch bell rang Monday afternoon and Papyrus erupted out of his seat.  
“IT’S SPAGHETTI DAAAAAAAAY!!!” He dashed out the door, papers flying everywhere. I tried to keep up, but he beat me to the cafeteria, zoomed through the line, and grabbed a plate of spaghetti. He was just about to get a forkful when I walked in. “NYEH HEH HEH! TOO SLOW, FRISK, TOO SLOW! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE THE HONOR OF HAVING CLAIMED THE FIRST PLATE OF SPAGHETTI!” As he spoke, I noticed a small white dog leap onto the table, take his plate in his mouth, and run out the door. I tried to say something to Papyrus, but he was too busy talking. When he looked down to stick his fork into the noodles, his spaghetti plate was gone.  
“WHAT? NO! I’VE BEEN DOGBURGLED BY THAT PERNICIOUS PUP!” Papyrus yelled. “CURSES!” Papyrus sat back down again dejectedly. All of a sudden, there came a sad trombone sound from behind him. “Wah wah waaaaah....”  
“SANS!” exclaimed Papyrus.  
Sans was holding his trombone in one hand and a hot dog in the other. “what?”  
“DID YOU BRING THAT ALL THE WAY FROM THE BAND ROOM JUST TO DO THAT??!!”  
“yes.”  
“UGH!”  
“Don’t worry, I gotcha covered,” I said as I slid my plate of spaghetti in front of him.  
At the end of the lunch period, the bell rang, and kids started to file out of the cafeteria. “AWW...” said Papyrus.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“I DIDN’T GET TO FINISH MY SPAGHETTI...”  
“Oh, sorry about that. Maybe next time,” I said, patting him on the shoulder to comfort him.  
“papyrus, lunch lasts, like, 45 minutes. how did you not finish your spaghetti?” asked Sans.  
“I CHEWED EACH BITE FOR FIVE MINUTES TO MAXIMIZE ENJOYMENT!” proclaimed Papyrus with enthusiasm.  
Sans cringed. “ew, that doesn’t sound very nice.” said Sans. “well, whatever, it’s in the PAST-a now.”  
Papyrus groaned. “so, uh...” Sans whispered. “hey...frisk, what’s our next class? i lost my schedule.”  
“Um...” I pulled my schedule out of my pocket. “PE.”  
“EXCELLENT!” said Papyrus with a confident grin. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SURELY DOMINATE AT WHATEVER SPORT IS BEING TAUGHT!”  
“hah, not likely,” scoffed Sans. “i hear undyne’s helping teach that class today.”  
“UNDYNE?!?!” asked Papyrus in surprise and disbelief.  
“Who’s she?” I asked as we started walking towards the locker rooms.  
“she’s on the football team,” Sans explained.  
That seemed strange to me. I had always thought that girls weren’t allowed to join the football team. “But...”  
Sans kept talking. “we’ve lost, like, only one game since she joined the team last year.”  
“I HEARD SHE THREW THE BALL INTO ORBIT AFTER THE GAME THAT DAY WE LOST.”  
“Okay, I’m officially nervous.”  
“eh, you’ll be fine, kiddo,” said Sans with a reassuring smile. “now, papyrus, he’s going to be a nervous wreck.”  
“WHAT? I WILL NOT!” exclaimed Papyrus indignantly.  
“sure you will,” Sans teased. “just because she gives you cooking lessons doesn’t mean she’ll let you on the football team. you’ll be so worried about impressing her and making the team that you’ll forget to wear your pe pants to class.”  
Papyrus blushed. “THAT ONLY HAPPENED TWICE.”  
A few minutes later, Papyrus burst out of the locker room wearing his PE uniform, but with something a little different. He had written the words “Jog Boy” on the front with sharpie. He still wore his trademark red scarf. “TA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”  
“Wow, nice, Papyrus!” I gave him a thumbs up.  
“THANK YOU!” said Papyrus proudly. He looked around the gym. “HMMM... UNDYNE DOESN’T SEEM TO BE HERE... MAYBE SHE’S ON THE FIELD.” We took a peek out the door and saw a mass of people wearing gym shirts on the other side of the football field.  
“RACE YOU!” Papyrus called and sprinted away.  
“Oh no you don’t!” I called as I sprinted after him. Eventually, we made it to the end of the field, both out of breath.  
“*gasp* NYEH...HEH...*choke* I DID IT! YOU MADE AN EXCELLENT EFFORT, *huff* FRISK, BUT I BEAT YOU! AND I *puff* CERTAINLY BEAT MY GOOD-FOR-NOTHING BROTH-”  
“me?” interrupted Sans, coming up from behind us.  
Papyrus and I both jumped a foot in the air.   
“GAH!”  
Sans wasn’t winded at all. “so, what were you saying about beating me?”  
“GAH!”  
“How the heck did you get all the way over here so fast?” I asked.  
Sans smirked. “eh, i took a shortcut.”  
“SANS! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF-”  
All of a sudden, a loud voice came from behind us. “ALRIGHT, KIDS!”  
“SHH, SHH, IT’S UNDYNE!” Papyrus turned and stared at the speaker with rapt attention, flapping his hands in excitement. She was a large and imposing junior, with bright red hair tied up in a ponytail and an eye patch over her right eye. “Listen up, kids!” yelled Undyne. You may be wondering why I’m helping teach this class. Well I say WHY NOT??? I’m the star of the football team here, and if ANY of you are thinking of trying out, I need to make sure you’re in tip-top shape!”  
The whole class was absolutely silent.  
“WELL? WHAT ARE YOU STANDING AROUND FOR???” yelled Undyne. “2 LAPS AROUND THE FIELD! GO! GO! GO!”  
“YES, UNDYNE!” said Papyrus enthusiastically, and immediately jogged away. I didn’t have much choice but to follow him in jogging around the field. Half a lap later, I managed to catch up with Papyrus.  
“Man, *huff* Undyne is... *puff* serious, huh?” I asked.  
“YES, *puff* SHE IS.” replied Papyrus. “I REALLY HOPE I DON’T MESS UP TODAY...” Papyrus got so flustered by this notion that he tripped on his own feet and crashed to the ground. He scrambled back up quickly with a terrified look on his face. “SHE DIDN’T SEE THAT, DID SHE?”  
I glanced over at Undyne, who was preoccupied with yelling at Sans, who was reclining on the bleachers. “Nope.”  
“GOOD!”  
Later, the class gathered in a cluster around Undyne, with everyone (except Sans, of course) gasping for breath after running half a mile without stopping.  
“ALRIGHT! NOW, 25 PUSHUPS!” yelled Undyne.  
I couldn’t help letting out a loud groan.  
Papyrus shot me a horrified glance. “NOT A GOOD IDEA, NOT A GOOD IDEA, NOT A GOOD IDEA-”  
All of a sudden Undyne was in my face. “Care to repeat that little remark, punk?”  
“Um, I, uh...”  
She smirked. “I thought not. Frisk, was it? That’s an extra ten pushups for you, Frisk! Be thankful it’s not a hundred!” Undyne stalked away.  
“Wow, you got off easy, kid,” said Sans.  
“Yeah....”   
* * *  
The next day was Friday, and after school my phone rang. “Hello?” I answered.  
“HELLO, FRISK!”  
“Oh, hey, Papyrus!”  
“HEY, UM... ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING TONIGHT?”  
I thought for a second. “No, I don’t think so...”  
“PERFECT! I’LL BE RIGHT OVER!”  
“But- Papyrus, wait! I-”  
*click*  
A few minutes later...  
*ding dong*  
I opened the door. “Hi Papyrus.”  
“HI, FRISK! WILL YOU DO ME A FAVOR?” Papyrus asked.  
“Sure!”  
“WILL YOU COME TO THE SCHOOL BAND CONCERT WITH ME TO SEE SANS PERFORM?”  
“Oh, yeah, sure!” I said enthusiastically. “Just let me get my coat.”  
I grabbed my coat from the closet and Papyrus and I started walking down the street toward the school.  
“So, is this, like, another date?” I asked teasingly.  
“WHAT? NO!!!” said Papyrus, blushing.  
“It is too!”  
“IT IS NOT! STOP SAYING THAT! ...IT’S JUST...”  
“Just what?”  
“I JUST WANT HIM TO KNOW THAT WE BOTH SUPPORT HIM. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?”  
“Of course I do.” I smiled at him and we kept walking.  
We got to the school auditorium, grabbed some programs, and sat down.  
Just then, the lights dimmed, the curtains slid apart, and there sat the whole band in chairs in rows in a semicircle around the music teacher at the conductor’s stand. I spotted Sans close to the end in the second row. He was wearing his old blue hoodie over his black band shirt.  
The music teacher held up her hands for quiet, and the audience went silent. She turned to the band, picked up her baton, and the band began to play.  
They sounded amazing. I loved the way the drums made the whole room vibrate. Every so often, I looked over at Sans. He was barely looking at his music. He even made eye contact with me once and winked.  
All of a sudden, about halfway through the song, most of the instruments went quiet, except for a few clarinets. Another instrument began to play, louder than anyone else. To my surprise, it was Sans’ trombone. I saw Papyrus’ jaw drop.  
“OH MY GOD!!!” he whispered, rubbing his hands back and forth on the armrests of his seat. “HE DIDN’T TELL ME HE WAS DOING A SOLO!!!”  
I was equally surprised. “But...but he never practices... what? How? I-”  
“SHH, SHH, JUST GO WITH IT!” whispered Papyrus, still staring at the stage.  
Sans kept playing for a bit until the rest of the band kicked in. They finished the song and everyone applauded, most of all Papyrus and myself.  
After the concert, Papyrus and I stood by the band room door to wait for Sans. When he came out, Papyrus met his gaze with a stern expression, arms crossed.  
“…what?” asked Sans. “what’d i do this time?”  
“SANS…” said Papyrus.  
“what?”  
“YOU DIDN’T TELL ME YOU WERE DOING A SOLO!!!”  
Sans grinned. “yeah. i know.”  
“WHY???”  
“i wanted to see how much you’d freak out.”  
“OH! WELL THEN, IS THIS ENOUGH FREAK-OUT FOR YOU??” Papyrus immediately crushed him in a huge hug, bouncing up and down. “THAT WAS INCREDIBLE, SANS! I’M SO PROUD!”  
Sans chuckled. “heh. yep. sure is.”  
Papyrus released his brother. “SERIOUSLY SANS, YOU WERE AMAZING!!!”  
Sans raised his eyebrows. “huh...do you really think so?”  
“I know I do, Sans,” I said, giving him a hug myself.  
“ME TOO!”  
“hey, thanks, guys, that… yeah, that means a lot,” said Sans. “but...frisk, why are YOU here?”  
“I couldn’t miss your big debut, Sans!” I said, noogieing him playfully.  
“ow, hey, stop!” Sans laughed.  
“ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT, YOU GUYS!” interrupted Papyrus. “LET’S GO HOME.”  
“yeah,” said Sans.  
We started walking away. “let’s go home.”  
* * *  
On Monday morning, I woke up, stretched, and casually glanced at my clock. To my horror, it was 8:21. Naturally, I began freaking out, because school starts at 8:30, the bus leaves at 8:25, and I hadn’t even changed out of my pajamas! Two minutes later, I was out the door and pulling on my coat. I dashed down the street, just barely missing the bus. “Noooooo!” I called in vain as the bus puttered away down the street. *BOOM* And then it started raining. Perfect. I sighed, pulled out my umbrella, and started walking to school.  
After a while, I noticed a kid in a yellow poncho walking in front of me, their arms full of books. “Hey! Hey, wait up!” I called, and ran to catch up with them. I fell into step beside them and held the umbrella for the both of us.  
“Yo!” they smiled. “Oh, you got an umbrella? You’re the best! I would’ve gotten one myself but…” They hefted the books in their arms.  
“No problem.”  
“Did you miss the bus too?”  
“Yeah.”  
“That sucks, man.”  
“...I’m Frisk,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”  
“Cool.”  
The kid said nothing after that. I was waiting for them to tell me their name, but they weren’t saying anything. I couldn’t blame them. I had been pretty shy around people when I was new to the school.  
“Yo, we’re probably going to be super late, haha,” said the kid finally. “You’d go faster without me along.”  
“Are you kidding? You’d get soaked!” We both laughed. We kept walking to school. Eventually, we made it to the fence by the football field.  
“Oh! OH!” the kid exclaimed. “Is... Is that HER?”  
“Who?” I asked.  
“It IS her! It’s Undyne!” they said excitedly. We both peered through the fence.  
“Is she doing PUSHUPS? In THIS weather? She’s a fanatic!” I said in disbelief.  
“I know, right!” said the kid with a dreamy sigh. “She’s such a good team captain.”  
“Captain?” I asked incredulously. Now was my chance to finally ask what had been bouncing around my mind since Sans told me about Undyne being on the football team. “But - girls aren’t allowed to join the football team, much less be captain!”  
“She did anyway!” said the kid in admiration. “Everyone’s too scared to ask her to get off, and she totally rocks it!”  
“Wow. I can certainly picture that.” I stood to the side while they stared at Undyne.  
“She doesn’t seem to like me very much,” I put in after a while. The kid was too enraptured to respond.  
“Oh!” They rummaged around in their backpack and grabbed their phone. “I GOTTA get some pics of her doing her thing!”  
“Go right ahead, but I’ll just have to leave you here with no umbrella...” I teased.  
They laughed. “Okay, okay, I’m coming,” they said, quickly snapping a few photos.  
We walked in the door a few minutes later, and I closed my umbrella. “Well, see you around?” I asked.  
“See ya!” said the kid with a big grin. They sprinted down the hall – and fell flat on their face, scattering their books all over the floor. I was about to run over to help them, but they picked themselves and their books back up almost immediately and kept running. I had to admire their determination.  
All of a sudden, the doors opened and in walked Sans. “heya,” he greeted me. “you late too?”  
“Am I?” I asked. “I don’t have a watch.”  
“you are,” said Sans. “It’s 8:42.”  
“8:42??? OhmygoshgottagoseeyoulaterbyeSans!” I dashed down the hall.  
As I raced past the classrooms, I glanced up at a clock on the wall. 8:29. That Sans…  
* * *  
Later that day, I ran into Sans and Papyrus in between classes, and we started talking. We talked for... a while. Too long. When the bell rang, we were still talking, and I was nowhere near my next classroom. “Oh shoot!” I exclaimed. “I gotta go, guys! See you later!”  
“BYE, FRISK!”  
“see ya, kid.”  
I raced down the halls at warp speed. But I was going so fast, that when I turned the corner, I ran smack into somebody. We both fell to the ground. I heard a loud THUD, which seemed to be the person’s head hitting the floor. Their books fell all over the floor. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I apologized. “That was totally my fault! Here, let me help you with your books.” I bent over and gathered up all the books, stacked them up and stood up to hand them to their owner. But only then did I see who I had run into.  
It was Undyne.  
“Um...” I said nervously.  
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” she yelled, rubbing her head. “YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT THAT WAS YOUR FAULT!”  
“S-sorry, I...”  
“You’re damn lucky I’m not helping teach P.E. anymore, punk! This is the second time you’ve messed up like this! And for your sake, I hope there isn’t a third!” She grabbed her books out of my hands, and pushed me roughly into the wall, banging my head. She walked away fuming.  
Aw, crud.  
* * *  
When I got out of class, I was feeling down, to say the least. I had a free period, but I didn’t really feel like doing much, so I just wandered down the hall aimlessly until I ran into Sans. “heya.” Sans waved.  
“Oh, hey, Sans.”  
“you doing alright kid?”  
“Eh, I’m fine, I just...bumped into Undyne earlier. Literally. I ran right into her.” I gave a halfhearted little laugh. “She REALLY doesn’t like me now.”  
“...hey, come with me, i wanna show you something. you have a free period, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
We walked off toward a back door.  
“So, uh...where are we going?” I asked.  
“you’ll see. i think you’re gonna like this.”  
He opened the back door and we walked out into an alley behind the school.  
“Um, we’re not allowed to be out here...”  
“i know.” Sans went over to a hole in a corner of the fence, pulled out his lunch bag, and crouched down by the hole. He opened his bag and took out some bacon.  
“Bacon?”  
“yeah, this little guy loves it.”  
“Little guy?”  
“if you’re lucky, and you have the right food...” The small, white dog who had stolen Papyrus’ spaghetti earlier crawled out of the hole.  
I opened my mouth in surprise.  
“shh, shh, if you’re quiet, he might let you pet him.”  
I started to edge closer. The dog was preoccupied with eating the bacon. When I got pretty close, I knelt down next to the small, white dog. He finished his bacon and looked at me with his adorable dog face. He trotted over to me and put his paws on my lap. I cautiously lifted my hand and petted his head. He licked my hand. After a little bit, he bounded away and disappeared back into the hole in the fence.  
“Wow.”  
“wow is right. he never lets anyone pet him the first time.”  
“Where did he come from?”  
“he just...showed up one day. sorta like you, i guess. and yeah, everyone knows dogs aren’t allowed at school, but no one cares. they all love him and he loves them back.”  
“...do you know why I showed you this?”  
“No, why?”  
“i showed you our dog to show you that no matter who you are, or who you’re dealing with...you can make friends with anyone. so don’t worry about undyne, kiddo.”  
“Sans, I...” I didn’t know what to say.  
“don’t mention it. now let’s get back inside before some teacher nails us. that’d be RUFF.”


	8. Chapter 8

Papyrus caught up with me after the final bell rang that day.  
“HEY FRISK!”  
“What’s up?” I asked.  
“LET’S GO WALK AROUND THE PARK! I HAVE SOME NEAT THINGS TO SHOW YOU!”  
“Sure, sounds like fun!”  
Papyrus and I walked for a while until we got to the park.  
Papyrus led me over to a metal bench by a pond with lily pads floating on it. “HERE’S THE BENCH WHERE I LIKE TO SIT AND PONDER LIFE! FAILING THAT, I JUST THINK ABOUT SPAGHETTI.”  
“There’s something underneath it...” I noticed.  
“REALLY?” Papyrus rummaged around underneath it and came up with... “A... QUICHE?”  
“Someone must have left it there.”  
Papyrus cradled it in his arms. “AWWW...HOW SAD. FEAR NOT, LITTLE QUICHE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL CARE FOR YOU AND GIVE YOU A GOOD HOME!”  
We walked through the park, Papyrus carrying his newly adopted quiche under his arm. He gestured to a clearing with his free hand. “HERE’S THE PLACE WHERE THAT GUY ALWAYS SELLS ICE CREAM. ‘NICE CREAM’, HE CALLS IT.”  
“Looks like he’s not here. We’ll have to come back sometime!”  
We kept walking until Papyrus stopped with a thoughtful look. “I JUST REMEMBERED SOMETHING...HMMMM...” He paused in thought for a moment. “(IT’S AFTER SCHOOL HOURS, BUT I WONDER...)” He suddenly reached a conclusion. “OKAY! C’MON! JUST A QUICK DETOUR!”  
Papyrus started running back towards the school, and I followed after him. I kept following him as he ran around to the side of the building and examined the wall.  
“LET’S SEE...WHERE IS IT?”  
“Where’s what?”  
“AH HAH! HERE IT IS!” Papyrus had found a poster the student council had made taped on the wall and peeled it back, revealing a large hole in the school wall.  
“Woah!” I exclaimed.  
“YEAH!” said Papyrus. “I FOUND IT AND COVERED IT UP SO THAT THEY WOULDN’T FIX IT! YOU’LL SEE WHY IN A SECOND! AFTER YOU!” He pushed in the paper covering the other side of the hole. I crawled through the hole. It was pitch black. “ONE MOMENT...”  
Papyrus flicked a switch and the inside of the hole, which was actually an unused closet with no door, was lit up with little blue Christmas lights. There were beanbag chairs on the floor and shelves with random stuff on them. It was very cozy.  
“WHEN THEY REMODELED THE SCHOOL LAST YEAR, THEY BUILT OVER THIS PART. THERE’S NO WAY IN OR OUT NOW EXCEPT FOR THE HOLE. I DON’T THINK ANYBODY BUT ME, YOU, AND SANS KNOW THIS PLACE EXISTS ANYMORE!”  
“that you, papyrus?” came Sans’ voice from outside. He stuck his head through the hole. “bro, you gotta remember to close the paper after you come in here. i didn’t string 20 dollars’ worth of christmas lights in here so some teacher could take it all down.”  
“can I come in?”  
“IN A MINUTE!” Papyrus called through the hole. Then he turned to me. “I HAVE A TRADITION THAT WHENEVER I GO IN HERE, I MAKE A WISH. DO YOU HAVE ONE?” I shook my head. “I DO! NYEH HEH HEH!” He looked up at the twinkling blue lights on the ceiling. “I WISH I WAS SITTING WITH MY COOL FRIEND!” Then gave me a big smile. “...LOOK! IT’S COMING TRUE!”  
“...That’s so sweet, Papyrus,” I said, touched. “I know what I wish. I wish that I’ll always have as great a person as you to call my friend.”  
“AWW, THANK YOU FRISK!”  
We sat there in silence for a while, our arms around each other, staring up at the twinkling blue lights.  
“can I come in yet?”  
“SANS! BE QUIET! CAN’T YOU TELL WE’RE HAVING A MOMENT HERE?”  
“nope. i’m on the other side of the wall, remember?”  
“EXCUSES, EXCUSES!”  
* * *   
Near the end of lunch later that week, I stood up from the floor on the balcony. “Well, that was a great poker game guys, but I gotta go now!”  
I had been playing poker with the Dogs. No, not actual dogs, these were the Dogs. They’re a group of kids that hang out on the balcony at lunch every day. They’re called the Dogs because they all have names or nicknames relating to dogs. I mean, no joke, two of the kids’ actual names are Dogamy and Dogaressa! They’re all on the football team, (except Dogaressa, because she’s a girl. The only girl hardcore enough to join the football team is Undyne.), and they all have nicknames (Except Dogamy and Dogaressa. They don’t need them). Doggo (Google it) is called that because he literally can’t see things that aren’t moving without his glasses, and he forgets them often! The other two are called Greater Dog and Lesser Dog, because Greater Dog is Lesser Dog’s big brother.  
“Leaving so soon?” asked Dogamy. “Well, bye now!”  
“Come again sometime! We love the company!” said Dogaressa.  
“Except...could you maybe bring some bigger cards next time? And maybe... cards that move? I hate having to wave them in front of my face to be able to read what number they are.” griped Doggo.  
“See you later!” said the Lesser Dog.  
“Bye bye!” said the Greater Dog.  
I waved to the group and started walking toward the cafeteria.  
But all of a sudden, this girl jumped out from behind a corner. She had dyed grey hair and HUGE hoop earrings. She also had a headband with cat ears on it.  
“hOi!” she said.  
“AH!” I yelled. “Oh, uh, hi! Uh... what was your name again?”  
“hOi! i’M tEmMie!”  
“Um, hi, uh, Temmie,” I said slowly. I was a little startled by her broken English. “Could – could you move, please?”  
“tem...MOV?... OKS! tem wil mov an make u happys!” She stepped out of the way for me.  
“Thanks,” I said.   
“...u...THaNKED TEM!” squealed Temmie. “tem not ben tanked in LONG LONG tem!” evryone thnks tem is wierd...” Temmie looked sad for a second, but then gave me a huge smile. “...but tem oks with dat! long as tem hav nice freind lik u...Tem wil b happys!”  
“Aww, thanks, Temmie!”  
“!!!” Temmie’s smile got even wider. “u tanked tem AGAIN! u must b very prouds of tem...so Tem wil inivtes u to Tem hous! Tem hous is very goods...tem hav TEM siblings there! u shod totaly com!”  
“Sure I’ll come!” I accepted. “What time?”  
“hmmm...what tem...ooh! Tem know! how abouts...tem o’clock on satsday!”  
“Ten o’clock on Saturday? You got it, Temmie!”  
“yaYA!” Temmie looked absolutely delighted. But her smile fell when the bell rang. “uh o... tem gots 2 go nows...”  
“Ok, bye Temmie!” I waved as we started down the hall in different directions.  
“bOi!”  
* * *  
At tem ten o’clock on satsday Saturday, I walked over to Temmie’s house near the park and knocked on the door. Temmie opened the door. “hOi!” she said. “com in! com in!”  
“Thanks!” I said.  
“yaYA!” She held the door open and I walked in. There were a bunch of other kids who looked almost exactly like Temmie sitting on the couch. “hOi! i’M tEmMie! an dis is my sister...teMmIe!” said the girl on the end of the couch.  
“hOi! i’M tEmMie! and dis is my sister...teMmIe!”  
“hOi! i’M tEmMie! don forget my brother!”  
“Hi, I’m Bob.”  
“Hi, Temmie, Temmie, Temmie, and Bob,” I greeted them. “Nice to meet you!”  
“goods! me 2s!” said all the Temmies.  
“Pleased to make your acquaintance as well.” said Bob.  
“lets go up to my rom.” Temmie pulled on my arm. “tem has THINGS in rom!”  
“waits!” cried the Temmie on the couch nearest to me.  
I turned to her. “What is it?”  
“u cant go in theres,” she warned. “p... tem hears u allergics to cats.”  
“Oh, do you have a cat?” I asked.  
“yaYA!” she said. “but dat OK, tem understand... tem... ALSO allergics to cats!”  
All of a sudden, her face erupted in little red spots. *pwk* *pwk* *pwk* *pwk*  
“hOives!” she cried.  
“Um... are you okay?” I asked.  
“yaYA!”  
“Okay...” I followed Temmie up the stairs to her room and she opened a door with an exclamation point on it.  
Temmie’s room was rather barren. There was nothing in the room except for a bed with no sheets on it and a large cardboard box turned upside down like a table. On top of the box was a blue mushroom growing in a pot, a coffee mug, a glass bottle with some kind of strange liquid in it, and a single solitary egg. On the side of the box was painted the words “Tem Shop” in blue and yellow paint.  
“welcome to...da TEM SHOP!”  
“Oh, this is a shop? What do you sell?” I asked.  
“yaYA! go to tem shop!”  
“Yeah, I’m here, but what do you sell?”  
“yaYA! go to tem shop!” Temmie insisted.  
“Oh forget it, I’ll just see for myself.” I went over to the counter made from a cardboard box, and on it were containers with torn up construction paper in them. “What are these?” I asked.  
“dese are Tem Flakes!” said Temmie. She grabbed a handful and began shoving the bits of paper into her mouth.  
“Oooookay...”  
All of a sudden, Temmie started sniffing the air. “Ooh!” she squealed. “u gota... sticks!”  
“What?” I put my hand in my pocket and came up with a random twig that must have slipped into my pocket. “Oh, yeah, I guess I do.”  
“ooh...tem always wana sticks...but tem gota pay for cooleg...” said Temmie with a troubled look. “OK!” she said brightly. “Tem buy sticks for $151!”  
“What? No! That’s way too much money for just a stick! Why do you even need it that much?”  
“but...p!!!” Temmie whined. “Tem buy sticks for $190!”  
“No! I said that’s way too much!”  
Temmie suddenly looked very stern. “You will regret this,” she said severely.  
“Um, okay. I... think I gotta go now.”  
Temmie resumed her cheerful attitude instantly. “bOi!” she waved.  
I ran down the stairs toward the front door. “Bye Temmies! Bye Bob!” I yelled to Temmie’s siblings on the couch.  
“bOi!” said all the Temmies.  
“Adieu,” said Bob.  
I ran out the door and slammed it shut.  
“Whew!”  
* * *  
On Monday after school, I caught up with Sans and Papyrus. “Hey, guys! Wanna hang out at my house?”  
“I’M SORRY FRISK, BUT I CAN’T TODAY!” said Papyrus. “TODAY IS FOOTBALL TRYOUTS!”  
“and naturally i gotta be there to provide moral support,” added Sans.  
“Oh wow, is that today?” I asked. “I can’t believe it!”  
“I KNOW! I CAN SCARCELY BELIEVE IT MYSELF!”  
“you wanna come and watch, kiddo?” Sans asked.  
“Oh, I would!” I said enthusiastically. “I definitely would, but...Undyne.”  
“oh, right,” said Sans. “yeah, you and her in the same area, especially with her football gear on, is not advisable.”  
“Well, good luck, Papyrus! I’m sure you’ll do great!” I said, and gave him a hug.  
“WHY THANK YOU!” said Papyrus with a grin. “In addition to her cooking lessons, UNDYNE’S BEEN TRAINING ME IN FOOTBALL FOR QUITE A WHILE NOW, AND I’M SURE HER ADVICE WILL COME IN HANDY!” He glanced at his watch. “WELL, I HAD BETTER GET GOING,” he said. “I NEED TO BE ON THE FIELD IN TEN MINUTES! SEE YOU TOMORROW, FRISK!”  
“Bye! Good luck! ... Are you nervous?” I asked.  
“OF COURSE NOT!” said Papyrus as he strode away.  
“he’s really nervous,” Sans whispered in my ear. “he’s been telling me all day how nervous he is. he’s been preparing for this his whole life, and there are a lot of bigger kids to compete with. he’s going to be really upset if he doesn’t make it.”  
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” I said. “You’ve got to tell me how it goes first thing tomorrow! Sorry I can’t be there to see it myself.”  
“it’s okay, kiddo.” Sans waved. “see you tomorrow.”  
* * *  
I was on pins and needles the whole night. I would have texted Papyrus that night to ask how it went, but my family went out to dinner, and when I got home Mom sent me straight to bed, and to top it all off, my phone died just as I was typing the last letters in a frantic text to Papyrus to ask how he did. The next morning, I got ready for school at lightning speed and raced to the bus stop. Papyrus and Sans take a different bus route than I do, so until I actually got to school, I was so antsy I couldn’t sit still.  
When I walked in the door, the first person I saw was Papyrus – with football gear on and an enormous grin on his face. “FRISK!” he cried. “I MADE THE TEAM!”  
“YOU DID?!?!” My face lit up as well. I ran over to him and gave him a gigantic hug! “Congratulations, Papyrus! I knew you could do it!”  
“THANK YOU FOR BELIEVING IN ME!” said Papyrus. “MY FIRST GAME IS TONIGHT. WILL YOU COME?”  
“Of course I will!” I said. “I can’t wait!”  
* * *  
That night, I showed up to the football field wearing my E.H.S. School Spirit T-shirt. I scanned the bleachers for Sans until I found him. I climbed up and took a seat next to him. “Hey, Sans!”  
“hey, kid,” he greeted me.  
“Which one’s Papyrus?” I asked, indicating the mass of football players on the field.  
“that one,” he said, pointing to a kid tossing a football back and forth to some other players. “number 24.”  
All of a sudden, the ref’s whistle blew, and the players got into position. Papyrus took a seat on the team bench. The game started. It was all very exciting and fun, and Sans and I stood up and cheered for our school, but I couldn’t help noticing that not once did Papyrus get up from the bench.  
I had to admit that Undyne was very impressive on the football field. She was tackling senior guys twice her size. Made me think about how much I didn’t want to be in the place of that senior guy.  
We ended up winning the game, but I wasn’t really thinking about that when the game ended. I knew that Papyrus was going to be so disappointed that he didn’t get to play. Sans and I went over to the place where the team was celebrating their victory. Papyrus was celebrating right along with them.  
It was a while before he noticed us and turned around. “HELLO, BROTHER! HELLO FRISK! THAT WAS A MOST EXCITING GAME, WAS IT NOT?”  
“Oh, Papyrus,” I wanted to comfort him. The poor guy must have been so depressed. “I’m so sorry all you had to do was sit on the bench. I-”  
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” asked Papyrus. “’ALL I HAD TO DO WAS SIT ON THE BENCH’??? I HAD A VERY IMPORTANT JOB! I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR TAKING THE PLACE OF ANOTHER PLAYER IF THEY HAPPENED TO GET INJURED ON THE PLAYING FIELD! A MOST HONORABLE TASK. WHY, IF IT WEREN’T FOR ME, AND SOMEONE GOT HURT, OUR TEAM WOULD BE SHORT A PLAYER, AND WOULD SURELY BE DEFEATED! THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS!”  
“Well, great!” I said.  
“i’m proud of ya, bro,” said Sans, giving his brother a slap on the back. “now, how ‘bout we go celebrate your decisive victory at the snack shack, my treat?” he asked the both of us.  
“THAT SOUNDS FANTASTIC!” said Papyrus.  
“Count me in!” I said.  
We headed off towards the snack shack, joking and laughing the whole way.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, the final bell rang and I was on my way out of the building when Sans called me over.  
“hey kid, can you help me with something?”  
“Sure!” I followed him over to the hole that led to the Wishing Room.  
“i’ve been trying to get this extra beanbag chair in here so you’ll have someplace to sit. could you pull it in from the inside while I push it?”  
“Okay,” I said, and crawled in the hole.  
“ok, here it comes.” Sans started shoving the beanbag chair through the hole. I grabbed it and yanked. After an immense amount of effort, we managed to get it through the hole.  
“Great! Here I come.” I climbed back out of the hole.  
“great job, kid, I knew you had that in the BAG.” said Sans, but all of a sudden, he looked over my shoulder. “uh... isn’t that your bus?” He pointed behind me and I turned around just in time to see the bus pull out of the school parking lot.  
“Aw, man!” I cried. “Now I’ll have to walk. Well, I’d better get going. See you, Sans.” I started to leave  
“hey,” Sans called after me. “since it was my fault you missed it, i’ll tell you a shortcut. cut through the park and turn left at the garbage dump. it’ll lead right to your street.”  
“Oh, great! Thanks!”  
“no sweat, kid. see ya.”  
I walked through the park, hopping across various stepping stones near the waterfall. I reached the dump, which was on the other side of the park in a hollow in the ground, and started to turn left, but all of a sudden, something caught my eye.  
It was Undyne. Oh, no! I thought. Is that Undyne? I can’t let her see me! I searched around for a place to hide in a panic. I decided the best place was just inside the dump. I stepped on a garbage bag near the edge of the hollow and ducked down, hiding myself from view, all except for my eyes. I saw Undyne’s feet walk past and disappear from view. Phew. But all of a sudden, the garbage bag I was standing on began to slip down the steep slope of the hollow. “Whoa, whoa...” I said, waving my arms to try and steady myself, but it was too late.  
The bag slipped from under my feet and I fell into the garbage dump flat on my back. Luckily, I landed on a random bed of golden flowers. Lucky these were here, I thought. They must have broken my fall. I wasn’t badly hurt, but I did have a couple cuts and scrapes. I got back up. “Owww...” I winced in pain.  
I tried to climb back up out of the dump, but it was just too steep. I slipped back down. I decided to just walk through the dump until I found my way up. I had taken only a few steps when the wind blew a piece of paper in my face. I pulled it off. It was a letter. It was soggy with water and torn in places, but it was legible. This is what it said:  
“Dear Chara, I hope you’re doing well back at home. Things are going alright in our new town. I’ve started school and my classes are good, but I can’t seem to make new friends. I still remember the day we first met. I saw you fall from a tree you had been climbing. Good thing those golden flowers were there to break your fall! I remember running over to help you up. Who could have guessed that we’d grow to be such good friends? I still miss you a lot. I hope I can make friends as nice as you at my new school. Please write back soon. Sincerely-” The rest was torn away. I put the letter back on the ground and kept walking.  
After a while, I saw a kid in a really scuffed-up leather jacket and spikey hair sitting on a trash can with their eyes closed. I tiptoed closer to them and looked at them closely. I waved my hand in front of their face. Their eyes stayed closed. I tiptoed away so as not to wake them up, but just as I thought I could relax, their eyes flew open. “Hahaha...It’s just LIKE you to run away!”  
“AH!” I cried, and jumped back.  
“Just because I’m sitting on a trash can doesn’t mean you can ignore me like I’m trash!” they yelled at me.  
“I-I’m sorry...” I stammered. “I thought you were asleep...”  
“Typical. Typical! TYPICAL!!!” the kid screamed. “My cousin told me all about you!”  
“Who?”  
“WHO? Dummy! The kid who you were going to talk to on the first day of school!”  
“Oh, so that’s their name...” I said, but I don’t think they even heard me.  
“He was kind... and friendly. Until... YOU...! You...” The kid looked disgusted. “Shucks! You were really boring! They got annoyed and left like any self-respecting human being. Well then. Well then! WELL THEN!!!” The kid shouted, getting more and more worked up. “Boring people are crumbs sticking to the face of this world. I’ll wipe you away with the dainty handkerchief of vengeance!” They leapt off the trash can and advanced toward me.  
“Hey, look,” I said, holding up my hands and backing away. “I don’t want a fight...”  
“Foolish. Foolish! FOOLISH!!!” the kid screeched. “You intruded on my personal space and my cousin’s sense of dignity!”  
“I didn’t mean to...”  
“YOU DIDN’T – Oh, forget it! I WILL CRUSH YOU LIKE A-”  
“Please...don’t...Let’s just talk about this...” I kept backing away.  
“I am NOT happy with this! I will murder you!”  
“Please, I’m sure we can be friends if we just talk this out...”  
“FRIENDS?!?!” The kid flew into a rage. “I DON’T NEED FRIENDS!!!” They reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folding knife. “I’VE GOT KNIVES!!!”  
“Woah there... Just - put the knife away and calm down.”  
The kid threw the knife into a nearby pile of trash, narrowly missing my leg. They stood silently for a second, with a ridiculous expression on their face. “...I’m... out of knives...”  
“Good,” I said, “Now just...”  
All of a sudden, garbage started raining down on the kid’s head and getting tangled in their spiky hair. “Ow... Ow...! OW! Wh-what is this? Falling garbage? I’m outta here!” The kid raced away.  
I looked around for the source of the falling garbage. Then, I saw Napstablook coming down into the dump, sliding as they went and knocking garbage all over the place. I narrowly avoided an anime DVD case as it sailed past my head. “oh... i’m sorry... when i came, your friend left... oh no... you two looked like you were having fun... oh no... i only wanted to say hi... oh no........” Tears started to slide down their face.  
“Uh, it’s okay,” I reassured them. “You actually kinda saved me.”  
“well...i’m going home...uh, feel free to... ‘come with’ if you want...” Napstablook left dejectedly. I followed them at a short distance. I thought about saying something, but I didn’t want to make them cry again, so I just kept following them out of the dump until we got to their house. They went inside and closed the door. They didn’t even look behind them.  
I went up and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, the door creaked open. I saw Napstablook’s eye staring back at me. “h-hello? is...is someone... oh. you really came.”  
“Hi, Blooky!”  
“...hello... i’m sorry, i just didn’t expect that you would actually show up.”  
They stood there awkwardly for quite a while.  
“...do you want to come in?”  
“Yeah, sure,” I said.  
“...oh...really?”  
“Yes.”  
“...wow. ok...come on in...” They opened the door and I stepped inside. “here we are...home sweet home. my parents are snail farmers, and they don’t come home often...so i stay alone a lot...”  
“Aw, that’s too bad.”  
“...let’s go to my room.”  
Napstablook led me down the hall and through a door to a very bare bedroom. It had a few CD players, a bare bed, a desk with a computer, a plastic ball with a stand and switch, and a mini refrigerator.  
“...well...it’s not much, i know...but make yourself at home.”  
“Thanks!” I said. Then, noticing the CD players, I said, “Ooh, should we have some music?” I looked over at Napstablook for an answer, but they pulled their hood over their head and shrunk into a corner. I pressed play on one of the CDs. It was a very spooky tune. “Wow, I’ve never heard this one before. I like it!”  
Napstablook seemed to emerge a bit. “you...you do?”  
“Yeah!” I played the rest of them. The second one sounded like spooky sound waves, and the third made me think of something that might play at a ghost’s holiday party. “I’ve never heard any of these before, and they’re all great! Did you make these?” Napstablook nodded shyly. “They’re really good! You should totally put them online!”  
“...i already did, actually...” Napstablook went over to the computer and with a couple of clicks pulled up their account.  
“That’s neat! Hey, I’ll totally follow you when I get home!”  
“you will...? oh...thanks...”  
I went over to the mini fridge. “Hey, what’s in here?”  
“oh...are you hungry...i’ll get you something to eat...” They opened the fridge door and pulled something out. “here...have a sandwich...”  
“Thanks!” I took it and took a bite, but something felt off...  
“oh...i’m sorry...i forgot to put anything inside it...”  
“Oh...it’s all right.”  
Napstablook stood there uncomfortably for a bit until they said, “...after a great meal...i like to lie on the floor and feel like garbage...it’s a family tradition...do you want...to join me?”  
“Sure, why not?”  
“ok...follow my lead...”  
Napstablook went over to the middle of the floor and laid down. I did the same. We both stared up at the ceiling. We closed our eyes. I heard a faint click, as Napstablook turned on the ball, which turned out to be one of those 3D projector things. The whole room was filled with a galaxy pattern. We lay there for a long while, but eventually I had to get up.  
That had been so perfect that I didn’t even ask for details. Instead, I said “Well, I had a great time, but I’d better get going. I just want to hear Spooktune one more time...” I hit play and listened for a bit, and left it on as I waved to Napstablook and started to leave. “See you later!”  
“thanks... for coming...”  
I was still slightly bowled over by the amazing experience that had just taken place in Napstablook’s room as I walked out the front door, so I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and I ran smack into Someone. That Someone was a kid in a tank top named Aaron. Standing next to him was a kid in overalls named Woshua. I’d seen them both around school. Aaron spent 90% of his time lifting weights in the gym, and Woshua was always tagging after the janitor. “Oh! Sorry!” I said to Aaron. “I totally wasn’t looking where I was going!”  
“It’s okay, little dude!” said Aaron, and punctuated the end of his sentence with a wink.  
“What’s that music?” asked Woshua with a puzzled expression on their face. Spooktune could still be heard coming from Napstablook’s open bedroom window.  
“I DUNNO, DUDE, BUT IT’S SPOOKING ME OUT!” said Aaron in a panic. Again, he ended his sentence with a wink.  
“If it’s spooking you out, why are you winking?” asked Woshua.  
“Those are winks of fear!” (Wink)  
“Oh god, this is worse than Shyren,” Woshua groaned.  
“No way! Shyren is way less scary!” (Wink)  
“Whatever. This beat is too...” Woshua shuddered. “Filthy.” They left in a huff.  
“Wosh! No! Don’t leave me...” (Wink) “Is this creepy music my punishment for being creepy?” (Wink) “I’ll never creep again!” (Wink) “Wosh!” (Wink) Aaron took off running after Woshua.  
With a shake of my head and a smile, I turned and headed home. I still had homework to do...  
* * *  
The days went by, and soon it was Halloween. That night, I sat on the couch flipping through Halloween movies with a bowl of candy on the table next to the door. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang and the first trick-or-treaters were here. I jumped up, grabbed the bowl, and opened the door.  
Two skeletons stood in the doorway, one much taller than the other. I could tell they were Sans and Papyrus, because the shorter one was wearing a cheap skull mask and a blue hoodie. Papyrus’ costume was much fancier. “TRICK OR TREAT!” “trick or treat!” they said.  
“Hey, guys!” I held out the bowl of candy.  
“HELLO, FRISK!” said Papyrus, taking three pieces.  
“hey, kid,” said Sans, reaching in for a massive handful.  
“THANKS FOR THE CANDY!” said Papyrus. “ARE YOU COMING TRICK-OR-TREATING WITH US TONIGHT?”  
“No, unfortunately not. My mom’s working, my dad’s sleeping, and someone has to hand out candy!” I explained.  
“welp, you have fun,” said Sans. “we better get going. i promised to show papyrus where you can get full-sized candy bars.”  
“OH, YES! LET’S GO!”  
“Bye, guys,” I waved.  
“BYE-BYE!”  
“see ya, kid.”  
I closed the door and flopped back on the couch. I had just decided on a movie to watch when the doorbell rang again.  
When I opened it, there stood someone wearing a traditional ghost costume, with the sheet with the eye holes and everything, except they also had on a white top hat. “…trick or treat…” they said in a small voice.  
I had a hunch of who it was, so I carefully lifted the sheet and peeked underneath. “Hello Napstablook,” I said with a smile.  
“…hello…” they replied.  
“So, did you come for candy?” I asked. “I’ll, uh... need a bag...”  
“oh...i got it...” Napstablook swept the top hat off their head and held it out upside down.  
“That’s adorable!” I exclaimed, and dropped a generous amount of candy into the hat. “Hey, have you been at this long?”  
“...oh, about an hour...”  
“Well, if you’ve got enough candy, you could come in and watch a couple of movies... if you want.”  
“...i can... come in?”  
“Sure!”  
“okay...i’ll come in...” Napstablook stepped in the door and we both sat on the couch and started watching our movie. “...so...has Undyne showed up yet?” asked Blooky after a while.  
“Undyne?!?” I asked, panicking slightly.  
“...yeah...i heard she’s around here...”  
“Oh crud! We gotta turn off the lights and pretend I’m not home-”  
I was too late. *DING-DONG!* I froze in absolute terror. *DING-DONG!*  
“...what are we going to do?” asked Napstablook. I was still stuck to the floor in horror.  
*DINGDONGDINGDONGDINGDONGDINGDONG!* The doorbell rang impatiently.  
I looked around in a panic, and spotted Napstablook’s ghost sheet lying on the table. “Um, I need that!” I said, grabbing it and throwing it over my head. I picked up the bowl of candy, took a deep breath, and opened the door.  
Undyne looked especially terrifying in silver battle armor and carrying a blue-green spear. “TRICK OR TREAT!” she bellowed.  
I said nothing, but held out the bowl of candy. “Cute costume!” she said, taking a handful. “Who is that under there?”  
I started to panic, but kept silent.  
“Ah, okay. Wanna remain anonymous, huh? That’s cool. Well, bye, Anonymous Ghost Person!” she waved and left. I quickly shut the door, pulled off the sheet, and leaned against the door exhaustedly.  
“Whew!”  
“...that was quick thinking...” said Napstablook.  
“Thanks...” I said, more scared of Undyne than ever...


	10. Chapter 10

I awoke to the sound of guitar and bass. I groaned, turned over in bed, and silently cursed the Red Hot Chibi Peppers (our local ear-busting garage band) for practicing so early in the morning.  
No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get the sound out of my head. Not with earplugs, headphones, or even Monster lying on top of my face. I sighed and got up. I checked my clock. 8:11. Mom should have been making breakfast about then. I went downstairs, expecting to see a plate of steaming pancakes at the table. Instead, all I saw was a note, along with a fresh vase of golden flowers on the table.  
The room was dark. I turned on the light and read the note. It was from Mom, and she had gone to work for a special meeting. I sighed, and tossed the letter down. My mom works harder than anyone I know, which is great, but that means she’s almost never around when I am.  
The Red Hot Chibi Peppers were still rocking away. I needed to go somewhere to get away from all the noise. I put on my jacket, scribbled something on a note about going to the park, and hurried out the door.

* * *  
By the time I got to around Napstablook’s house, the sound of drum and bass faded away to a dull pounding. After a short while, I arrived at the back entrance to the park. The gate was locked. It’s supposed to be open at five A.M. but it was locked tight this morning.  
Undaunted, I climbed over the fence and up into a tree.  
It was beautiful up there. The breeze flew over my face. I looked down at the park below me. I was in a wooded part of the park, with a path leading away from me. I could make out the waterfall part with the unreal blue water at the edge of the forest.  
“Woah there!” I heard a creaky voice from down below. “Hey, kid, get down from there!” I looked down. An old man with a wispy white goatee in a park ranger’s uniform was calling up to me. It was Gerson, the park ranger captain. I hurriedly got down from the tree.  
“Sorry,” I said sheepishly.  
Gerson gave me a stern look.  
“I’M sorry,” he corrected in his creaky voice.  
“I’m sorry,” I added.  
“I’m sorry, MR. GERSON.”  
“I’m sorry, Mr. Gerson.”  
“I’m sorry, Mr. Gerson, SIR,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. He was just playing with me now, and I knew it. We both began to laugh. He slapped me on the back. “How ya doin’, you little rascal!”  
I smiled. “I’m good! How are you, Gerson?”  
“I’m doing alright, but what about yourself, kid? You could hurt yourself goin’ around climbin’ fences an’ trees and stuff like that!”  
I grinned guiltlessly.  
“Besides, couldn’t you have waited 30 seconds?! I was just goin’ to unlock the gate! Loren was up too late stargazin’ and fell right asleep leanin’ against a tree, so as soon as I got here this mornin’ I had to come over here to unlock the gate!” I groaned. Loren was supposed to be the one who unlocked the back gate every morning, but they had a passion for stars and frequently stayed up too late with their telescope, causing them to fall asleep on the job.  
Gerson took out his key ring. “Well, I gotta go unlock this gate, an’ then I gotta hustle over to the flea market over by the fountain! I’ve got some neat junk for sale over there! You should come check it out when you get the chance!”  
“I will!” Gerson unlocked the gate and began to start off down the path. “And thanks for not reporting me!”  
“Wah ha ha! Reportin’ you for what?”  
I chuckled to myself. As soon as Gerson was out of sight, I went into a deeper part of the forest. As I walked, I was thinking about how big this park is. This wooded part is about a half, the fountain part is about a quarter, and the waterfall part is the other quarter. From what I heard, some rich old person willed their forest land to the city when they died, and the city made this amazing park.  
I continued through the trees. It was exactly like being out there in the actual forest, there was nobody around, except for a few squirrels and birds. The air was so fresh and clean that I felt like I could stay here forever.  
Until something broke the silence.  
I heard a faint voice in the distance. “...91 ...and ...92 ...and ...93...” I followed the sound until I came to a clearing.  
The clearing was covered with rocks. An especially tall and large one dominated the area.  
But when I saw who was on TOP of the rock, I dove behind a smaller one and peeked out from a crack in it.  
Just as I feared. Undyne, wearing a black tank top, was on the rock, doing push-ups. “100!” She finished her last push-up, and stood up, dusting herself off. She turned and began to do a quadriceps stretch. I ducked down behind the rock so as not to let her see me. But I stepped on a stick, which broke with a loud *SNAP*.  
I heard Undyne stop stretching. I didn’t move a muscle. Eventually I heard Undyne continue stretching. I tried to make a silent break for it. I stepped out from behind the rock and tiptoed away.  
I managed only a few steps before I tripped over a rock and fell flat on my face. Undyne turned quickly before I could scramble out of her line of sight.  
“Huh?” She was confused for a second. Then realization dawned on her face. Oh, please, please don’t let her recognize me...  
“YOU!” she shouted. She took out a long, sharpened stick and ran toward the edge of her rock.  
Yep. She recognized me. Time to run. I tore off through the woods like a spear-wielding lunatic was chasing me. Oh wait...  
“Oh no you don’t, punk!” I heard her hit the ground. Had she jumped off her rock? I didn’t have time to think about that at the moment.  
I heard Undyne smash through the plant growth as she followed me. She began yelling at me. “First you sass me in P.E then you smash into me in the halls, and now you’re SPYING on me? Well, I got news for you, punk! We’re not on school grounds anymore! So there’s NOTHING stopping me from teaching you a lesson!”  
I pleaded with her. “Please, stop! This is all just a misunderstanding! None of that was intentional!” I looked over my shoulder to see her response, but Undyne was gone.  
I looked around. She really was gone. I began to walk shakily away.  
All of a sudden, Undyne dropped down from a tree. She pointed her sharpened stick at me. I stood stock-still, terrified. Undyne broke a large branch from a nearby tree. “Here!” She threw the branch to me, and I managed to catch it, even in my terror. “Even wimpy losers like you should be given a chance to fight!”  
Undyne climbed up on top of a large rock. She began to yell at me. “I’m sick of your silly goody-two-shoes shtick!” she yelled, pointing her stick right at my face. “No more! I’m through! However, …if you win this challenge...I promise I’ll leave you alone. But that WON’T happen. So! Step forward when you’re ready!”  
I took a deep breath. Running away was not going to change things anymore. I stepped forward.  
Undyne grinned maliciously. “Yes! That’s it! No more running away! HERE I COME! NGAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” She leaped off her rock, and pointed her stick at me. “En guarde!” she cried. “You definitely can’t escape now!” she yelled in glee.  
I knew I had no chance of beating her. I had heard around school that she had been lifting weights since she was seven. “Undyne! Please, stop!”  
Maybe it was my imagination, but Undyne seemed to hesitate, to pause. A flash of recognition crossed her eyes. Then it was gone. “Wh... Who do you think you’re fooling?” She swung her stick at me. I swung my stick to block, and our sticks slammed together. She grunted. “Of course NOW you’re asking me to stop!” She tried to whack me again. “Now that you’re scared to face me!”  
I tried again. “No, no, it’s not like that at all! Just stop! Fighting is not the answer!”  
Undyne wavered again. But again, she snapped out of it, if not more quickly than last time. “H-Hah! That’s not gonna work on me, ESPECIALLY not coming from YOU! I, Undyne, will strike you down!”   
This wasn’t working. I tried one last time. “Undyne, seriously, just STOP fighting.”  
She didn’t even pause this time before trying to smack me with her stick. “No! How many times do I have to tell you, that’s not gonna work on me! Now grow a backbone and FIGHT me already!” She gave one large, extra-vicious WHACK!  
Half my stick flew off into the forest, the other half remaining in my hand. We both stared at it for a moment, then I took off running.  
“What?” I heard Undyne sprinting after me. She sounded furious. “I thought I said NO MORE RUNNING AWAY!”  
I tried my best, but Undyne was just too fast. She tackled me with one of her extra-strength, senior guy tackles.  
“Hah! Gotcha!” She broke off another stick and tossed it to me. “Here!” She grinned at my exhausted expression. “Had enough yet?” she asked.  
All of a sudden, an idea came to me. If the mercy approach didn’t work, why not try the opposite?  
“No way!” I said. “In fact, that was WAY too easy! I thought you were trying to teach me a lesson!”  
Taken aback by my sudden change in attitude, Undyne’s attacks got faster. *SMACK!* “How’s this, *SWIPE*, punk?” *SLAP*  
This seemed to be working. “Hah! Laughable, that’s how it is! What is this, kindergarten?”  
Undyne seemed disgusted. “Wha- No! NO! I’M NOT YOUR FUCKING KINDERGARTEN TEACHER!” She unleashed her fury at being insulted upon my stick. She hit it over and over, hitting, and smacking and swiping until...CRACK!  
Again, my stick had broken in two. We both stared at the half in my hand in confusion. I tossed the half aside and tore off into the forest.  
“Seriously?” Undyne sounded annoyed now. She gave chase, and I could hear her catching up.  
And then, of all the things...my phone rang! I answered it, still running. “What? I’m kinda busy right now! Is it important?”  
I heard Papyrus’s voice on the other end. “OK, OK, I’LL MAKE IT QUICK! I WAS JUST THINKING… YOU, ME, AND UNDYNE SHOULD ALL HANG OUT SOMETIME! YOU TWO WOULD GET ALONG GREAT!”  
I could not believe this. “Yeah, well, I’m kinda running for my life from her right now!”  
Papyrus didn’t understand. “AH! I SEE... TAG IS A VERY FUN GAME! GOOD TO KNOW THAT YOU TWO ARE GETTING ALONG WELL!”  
I tried to correct him. “Papyrus! No, I-”  
“WHOOPS! I GOTTA GO NOW! BYE!” He hung up, and two seconds later, Undyne tackled me again.  
As she screamed at me, several birds and small animals took flight from the scene, thinking that some sort of angry predator was upon them. “STOP RUNNNING AWAY!” She paused, then grinned menacingly. “In fact, since you think I’m so wimpy, let’s see how you fare without your precious stick! Face the point of my spear of justice without your stupid TREE BRANCH!”  
I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t strong enough to break a branch for myself, except for a small one, and that wouldn’t do any good at all.  
Undyne was almost upon me, and I had no solution. So, I did the only thing I could do, and sprinted away into the forest.  
“Really? Oh, come on!” Undyne just sounded exasperated now. “This is getting REALLY annoying, punk!” I ran shakily across a log spanning a dry creek. “When I catch you, I’ll-”  
But I never got to hear what Undyne would do when she caught me. Because while I was small enough to easily cross the log, she was not. One of her feet slipped out from underneath her. “Whoa...whoa...Whoa!” Her arms windmilled frantically, but it was too late. She lost her balance and fell into the ditch.  
I knew that she wanted to pulverize me, but she wasn’t moving. I cautiously looked over the edge of the log. She was lying at a weird angle on the ground. “...Undyne?” I asked meekly. “A-Are you okay?”  
Undyne turned over so that she was lying on her back. “Owowowowowow...what do you think? OF COURSE I’M NOT OKAY!”  
This was not good. “Hang on!” I said, carefully sliding down into the ditch. “Uh oh...” I said, examining her. “It, um…” I bit my lip. “It looks like a broken arm.”  
I looked at Undyne’s face. She was gritting her teeth, and I’m pretty sure I saw a couple tears slide out of her eyes. I rubbed her back comfortingly. “It’s gonna be okay,” I said, thinking back to my first-aid training from middle school. I took off my jacket and folded it, and placed it on the ground. “Can you support your arm and put it on here?” I asked Undyne. She gently slid her hand under her arm and placed it on my jacket without saying a word. “I’ll call 911,” I said. “Just stay calm, and try not to move too much.”  
As I pulled out my phone, Undyne was still silent. Then, she asked “...why?”  
I dialed. “Why what? Why should you not move?”  
“NO! Why are you helping me?”  
I paused with my finger over the number 1. “Hey, I’m not the sort of person who’ll just leave someone alone in the woods with a broken bone.”  
I finished dialing. They answered immediately.  
“911, what is your emergency?”  
“Hi, I’m at the city park, and there’s someone here who fell and broke their arm.”  
“Is the person conscious and breathing?” they asked.  
“Yes,” I replied. “She’s supporting her arm with her hand and my jacket as a cushion.”  
“Thank you for calling. We’ll send and ambulance right away.” Then they hung up.  
“They said they’ll be over as soon as they can,” I told Undyne. She didn’t respond. She just lay there. Thinking.  
* * *  
The next day was Sunday. I really needed to clear my head after what had happened the previous day, so I grabbed my jacket, along with a 20$ bill, and announced that I was going for a walk.  
I decided to go see Gerson’s flea market at the park. I liked the park, and Gerson, and maybe I would find something interesting there!  
After a short while, I arrived at the park fountain.  
There were stalls and tables and blanket booths all over the place, with so many interesting things for sale!  
I stopped at a table that sold sweets, and bought a two-pronged popsicle, which I licked as I wandered the flea market.  
I stopped when I heard a familiar voice call out “Woah there! I’ve got some neat junk for sale.”  
I turned around, and there was Gerson, still in his park ranger uniform, sitting cross legged on a blanket, smiling at me. His wares were spread out on the blanket in front of him. They were: a tin filled with tea bags, a basket of apples that were shaped like crabs, a random pair of glasses, and an old notebook. “Hey, kid!” he greeted me. “Come to see me, huh? Feel free to take a look at my stuff!”  
I didn’t see anything I was interested in, so I tried to make small talk, pointing at the crab apples. “So, uh... How’d they turn out to look like crabs?” I asked.  
“Eh? Those?” Gerson said. “I have a weird apple tree. That’s it. They do make pretty good novelties though. And ol’ Fluffybuns loves them!”  
“Fluffybuns?” I asked.  
“Eh? Fluffybuns? That’s an old nickname for a little buddy of mine, Asgore. You might know him. He’s the student council president at the high school.”  
I giggled to myself. “Why is he called ‘Fluffybuns’?” I asked between laughs.  
Gerson leaned back against the stone wall behind him and smiled. “Oh, that’s a great story! Let’s see... *Ahem*” Gerson cleared his throat, and I sat down on the ground in front of him. I loved Gerson’s stories.  
Gerson began. “It was the monthly address at the school two years ago, and the vice president, Toriel, was giving her part about upcoming events. After finishing her update, she moved to pass the microphone to Asgore. However, she didn't realize the microphone was still in her hand when she said: ‘Your turn, Fluffybuns.’ The audience burst into laughter. Realizing what she had said, she started laughing too. After a few moments, Asgore held up his arms. The crowd of students grew silent. He leaned towards the microphone, expression... Stern. ‘Dear students. Thank you for coming here today. I... President Fluffybuns...’ And the rest is history.”  
I burst out laughing. “Wow,” I said after I took control of myself. “That’s hilarious! Thanks for telling me the story!”  
“Wa ha ha! You’re welcome, kid!”  
I stood up. “Well, I should get going,” I said. “See ya, Gerson!”  
“Be careful out there, kid!”  
I didn’t really have an idea of where I wanted to go after that, so I just sort of wandered around the neighborhood aimlessly until I heard somebody call out to me.  
“HEY! FRISK!!” they called.  
I headed toward the direction of their voice and I saw Papyrus standing in front of a strange house. I heard piano music coming from it. “Oh, hi, Papyrus!” I said and went over to him.  
“WOW! YOU ACTUALLY AGREED TO COME HANG OUT! THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT!” said Papyrus excitedly.  
I had no idea what he was talking about.  
“AND I HAVE A SECRET WEAPON!” Papyrus pulled a bone with a bow around it out of nowhere. “SHE LOVES THESE!”  
“Uh, who does? What’s going on?”  
Papyrus didn’t seem to hear me. “OKAY, OKAY! STAND BEHIND ME!”  
“Okay...” I said and moved behind Papyrus. He knocked on the door, and it opened.  
It was Undyne. She had a cast on her right arm, but other than that, she looked pretty cheerful. “Hi, Papyrus!” Undyne said, as I tried to turn and run. “Ready for your extra-private, one-on-one training?”  
Papyrus grabbed the back of my shirt. “YOU BET I AM! AND I BROUGHT A FRIEND!” Papyrus pushed me in front of him, and Undyne and I stood face to face.  
At first, Undyne didn’t seem to register my presence. “Hi,” she greeted me. “I don’t think we........” Her voice trailed off as she recognized me. She stood there for a while in silence. Papyrus seemed equally as awkward as myself. She just sort of stared me down until she said, through clenched teeth, “Why don’t. You two. Come in?”  
Papyrus skipped to and fro in glee before entering the house behind Undyne, and I cautiously followed.  
We stood in a room that was part living room, part dining room. The living room area had a grand piano in it, and the kitchen area had walls covered in wallpaper with little fish on it.  
“HERE, UNDYNE! MY FRIEND BROUGHT A GIFT FOR YOU! ON THEIR OWN!” said Papyrus, and held out the gift-wrapped bone.  
“Uh...thanks,” said Undyne. “I’ll, uh, put it with the others.” She opened a drawer in the kitchen that was literally filled with those gift-wrapped bones and put it in. She closed it and said, “So, are we ready to start? My folks aren’t home yet...” She glared at me and clenched her fists. “Which might be a good thing...” she added quietly. I gulped.  
“WHOOPSY DOOPSY!” said Papyrus, obviously oblivious to the tension in the room. “I JUST REMEMBERED! I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM! YOU TWO HAVE FUN!”  
With that, Papyrus sprinted over to the window and took a flying leap, crashing through the window.  
Undyne and I both stared at the shattered window for a minute. “...So, why are YOU here?” Undyne broke the silence.  
“Well, I-” I started to say.  
“To rub your victory in my FACE?”  
“No, I-”  
“To humiliate me even further? Is THAT IT???”  
“No, no, it’s none of that, it’s just-”  
“...Wait. You think we’re going to be FRIENDS?”  
“Well, I guess-”  
“How delightful!” she grinned. “Let’s do it! Let’s all frolic in the fields of friendship!”  
Maybe this wouldn’t be so disastrous after all. “Really?” I asked.  
“NOT!”  
“Oh.”  
“Why would I EVER be friends with YOU?” said Undyne with a sneer. “You’re the one responsible for THIS!” she pointed a jabbing finger at her cast, which was signed by Papyrus, Sans, and someone named Alphys. “If you weren’t my houseguest, (and if I didn’t have a broken arm...) I’d beat you up right now! I will NEVER be your friend! Now get out of my house!”  
“Ok,” I said dejectedly, my head down. Hey, it was better than getting beaten to a pulp. But just as I turned to leave, Papyrus’ face appeared at the hole in the window.  
“DANG! WHAT A SHAME...” he said. “I THOUGHT UNDYNE COULD BE FRIENDS WITH YOU...BUT I GUESS I OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE’S NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE.” He pulled his head from the hole and disappeared.  
“Challenge? Papyrus! Wait a second-” Undyne yelled after him. “Dangit! He thinks I can’t be friends with YOU! Fuhuhuhu!” she laughed. “What a joke! I could make friends with a wimpy loser like you any day!”  
“Really?”  
“Obviously! I’ll show him!” She put her hands on her hips. “Listen up, punk! We’re not just going to be friends...we’re going to be...BESTIES!”  
“Cool!” I said, genuinely excited.  
“I’ll make you like me so much... you won’t be able to think of ANYONE else! It’s the perfect REVENGE!” she proclaimed with a devilish grin on her face.  
“S-sure...”  
The devilish grin disappeared and was replaced with a genuine (looking) smile. “Why don’t you have a seat?” asked Undyne pleasantly.  
“Actually, is it okay if I take a look around first?”  
“Uh...all right! Yeah, sure! Take your time!”  
I tried to find something to talk about. “Um, you play piano?” I asked, indicating the grand piano in the living room.  
“Yeah! It’s my other hobby. You know, besides football. One time, Alphys’ ...friend? came over here. All he did was lie seductively on the piano. And fed himself grapes. I don’t really like that guy. But I admire his lifestyle!”  
My eyes drifted over to the massive hole in the window where Papyrus had jumped out. “I can’t believe he jumped out the window like that,” said Undyne. “Usually he nails the landing. But...my parents aren’t going to be too happy about that big hole. So the best I can do is draw a picture of the window and stick it up there!”  
“Ha!” I said, going over to the door by the kitchen counter. “What’s in here?”  
“All our rooms are over there,” Undyne explained. “Want to see mine?”  
“Sure!”  
“TOO BAD! No nerds allowed!” she yelled. “Well, maybe some nerds...” she added.  
“Okay then...” I took another look around the room, leaning on the fridge as I did so. “What the...?” I backed away in surprise. “This thing is warm!”  
“Oh yeah!” said Undyne with a grin. “I hate cold food, and so do my parents. So Alphys came around and fixed it up so it heats up food instead! Hot Fridge... the world’s greatest invention!”  
“Sweet!” I took a few steps and almost tripped over something. “Woah!” I saw the sword leaning against the wall. “That’s a, uh, big sword!”  
“Yeah! It’s, uh, not real though. Alphys helped me make it out of cardboard. It’s from, uh, an anime that we both like to watch.”  
“That’s so cool!” I sat down at the stool by the table. “Okay, I’m done looking around now.”  
“Perfect!” said Undyne, clapping her hands together. “I’ll go get you something to drink.” She went to the cupboard and put a stack of small boxes, a green cylinder, a yellow bottle, and a white sugar bowl on the counter. “All set! What would you like?”  
“Hmm, let me see...” I got up from the table to have a closer look.  
All of a sudden I heard a loud *CRACK*! Undyne had launched a sharpened wooden stick toward me, lodging it in the table. I jumped.  
“HEY!!! DON’T GET UP!!!” she screamed. “YOU’RE THE GUEST!! SIT DOWN AND ENJOY YOURSELF!”  
“O-okay,” I said shakily and I collapsed back on the chair.  
The infuriated look on Undyne’s face subsided, and she forced her face into a polite smile. “Um, why not just point to what you want? You can use the spear!”  
“Alright.” I managed to un-stick the spear from the table. I held it out in front of me. “Hmmm...” I said thinking. I was so busy thinking, I didn’t notice the point of the spear drifting toward Undyne.  
“...Are you...hitting on me?” she asked in disbelief.  
“Huh? Oh! No! No no no no.”  
“When I said point to what you want, I meant a drink.”  
“Yeah, I got that. Hmmm...I’ll have soda!” I said, pointing to the yellow bottle.  
“Oh, soda? I HATE SODA!” Undyne yelled. “It rots your teeth, it rots your mind...IT ROTS YOUR FIGHTING SPIRIT!!!”  
“Then why do you have it in your house?” I asked.  
“...Why do I have it...?”  
“...”  
“Just – pick something else, okay?”  
“Okay. How about...hot chocolate!” I pointed at the green cylinder.  
“Oh, you want some hot chocolate?” Undyne was just about to reach for it, but stopped. “Wait, I just remembered. That container’s empty. Sorry for the inconvenience!” She grabbed the container and chucked it in the trash can.  
“Uh...can I have that?” I asked, and pointed to the sugar bowl.  
“Wh-Sugar?” Undyne sputtered. “You can’t have just sugar! Sugar goes in tea, you don’t just eat it!”  
“Okay, then I guess I’ll have tea,” I said, pointing to the only other option on the counter.  
“Tea, huh? Coming right up!” She put a kettle of water on the stove. “It’ll take a moment for the water to boil.” We waited for a while (very awkwardly, I might add) until the kettle started to whistle. “Okay, it’s all done!” said Undyne. She put a tea bag in teacup shaped like a fish and poured the water on top. She carried the cup over to me. “Here we are!” she said cheerfully. She took a seat across the table from me. “Careful, it’s hot.”  
“OK.” I waited. I checked the cup. It was still steaming. I waited some more.  
“It’s not THAT hot!! Just drink it already!”  
I took a sip of the tea. It was burning... But other than that, it was pretty good.  
“It’s pretty good, right?” asked Undyne. I nodded, and Undyne grinned. “Nothing but the best for my ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS FRIEND!”  
“Wow.” I took another sip.  
“You know...It’s kind of strange that you chose golden flower tea...That’s Asgore’s favorite kind. You know him?”  
“I haven’t MET him,” I said. “But I’ve heard of him. He’s the student council president, right?”  
Undyne grinned. “Yeah! He also used to be the captain of the football team, too.” She looked thoughtful for a second. “You kind of remind me of him. YOU’RE BOTH TOTAL WEENIES!” Undyne guffawed. “Sort of,” she added.  
“You might not believe this, but... I was a pretty hotheaded kid.”  
No kidding. I took a sip of tea.  
“Once, to prove I was the strongest, I tried to tackle Asgore in a football practice. Emphasis on TRIED,” she said, her face falling. I had some more tea.  
“I just slammed right into him! And worse, the whole time, he refused to even push me away! I was so humiliated...but then he apologized and said something goofy. ‘Excuse me, would you like to know how to beat me?’ I said yes, and from then on, we practiced together...until I finally managed to knock him down! I felt...bad. But he was beaming. I had never seen someone more proud to get their butt kicked.” She laughed, and I took another sip.  
“Anyway, long story short, we kept practicing, and now I’m captain of the football team! Now I’m the one coaching dorks to tackle people! Like, uh, Papyrus!”  
All of a sudden, she looked uneasy. “But, uh, to be honest, I’m not sure I made the right choice, letting onto the football team. Don’t tell him I said that!”  
I shook my head and had some more tea. “That’s why he sits on the bench so much,” Undyne continued. “It’s not that he’s bad or anything!” she said quickly. “He’s actually pretty fucking incredible!”  
I nodded in agreement and drained the rest of my cup of tea.  
“It’s just...” Undyne sighed. “He’s too innocent and nice! I couldn’t send him in there! He’d get ripped into little smiling shreds! That’s part of the reason I started teaching him how to cook, you know? So he can do something else with his life.”  
I nodded solemnly, not sure what to say.  
“Oh, sorry. I was talking so long... You’re out of tea, aren’t you? I’ll get some more.” She got up from the table and moved toward the counter. All of a sudden, she stopped. “Wait a second... Papyrus...his cooking lesson...HE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT RIGHT NOW!!!” Undyne turned towards me with a malicious gleam in her eye. “And if he’s not here to have it...YOU’LL HAVE TO HAVE IT FOR HIM!!!”  
Undyne abruptly leaped onto the counter and ran on top of it, kicking everything on it to the floor. “Nothing has brought Papyrus and me closer than COOKING! Which means that if I give you his lesson...”  
“WE’LL BECOME CLOSER THAN EVER BEFORE!”  
I sat stock-still in my chair, eyes wide with fright.  
“Fuhuhuhu!” she laughed. “Afraid? We’re going to be BESTIES!” She took a flying leap off the counter and landed right next to me. She picked me up in one hand, held me over her head, and ran with me to the kitchen counter.  
“AHHHHHH!”  
She dumped me onto my feet, and then stomped her foot with all her might. Assorted vegetables dropped from the ceiling and landed on the counter, along with a random banana. “Heroes start with the sauce!” shouted Undyne. “Envision these vegetables as your greatest enemy! Now!! Pound them to dust with your fists!!”  
“Okay!” I said, and punched the vegetables with full force. I knocked over a tomato.  
“YEAH! YEAH!” yelled Undyne enthusiastically. “Our hearts are uniting against these healthy ingredients! NOW IT’S MY TURN! NGAHHH!” She slammed her fists into the vegetables, mashing them to a pulp and splattering them all over the counter, the wall, and our faces.  
“Um, we’ll just scrape this into a bowl later.”  
“Um, okay.”  
“BUT FOR NOW!” Undyne stamped her foot again and a pot and box of noodles dropped from the ceiling onto the stove. “...We add the noodles! Homemade noodles are the best!”  
“Oh, did you make these?” I asked.  
“NO!!!” she yelled. “I JUST BUY THE STORE-BRAND! PASTA MAKERS ARE FUCKING EXPENSIVE! Just put the noodles into the pot! Drop them in like they’re all criminals! NGAAAAHHHHH!”  
I threw everything into the pot as hard as I could, including the box. It clanked against the empty bottom. “How’s that?” I asked.  
“GREAT! I’M INTO IT!” Undyne had a massive smile on her face. She seemed to be enjoying herself.  
“Alright! Now it’s time to stir the pasta!” she said. “As a general rule of thumb, the harder you stir...THE BETTER IT IS! Ready?”  
“Yeah!” I yelled.  
“Let’s do it!”  
I grabbed the spoon and stirred for all I was worth.  
“Harder!” encouraged Undyne.  
I stirred even harder. “HARDER!” she said again. I put all my energy into making that spoon move. “HARDER!!!” Gasping and panting, I tried to stir even harder, but I just couldn’t.  
“Ugh, let me do it!” said Undyne in exasperation. She snatched the spoon from my hand and chucked it all the way across the room and out the window.  
“Wow!” I said, impressed. Undyne paid no attention. She grabbed a “spear” in each hand and proceeded to murder the pot of pasta. “NGAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” she screamed. She didn’t stop until the pot was properly mangled and dented. “Fuhuhuhu! That’s the stuff!”  
I was reminded that she could do to me what she did to that pot.  
“Alright, now for the final step: TURN UP THE HEAT! Let the stovetop symbolize your passion! Let your hopes and dreams turn into burning fire! READY? Don’t hold anything back!”  
“Okay!” I grabbed the knob on the stove and turned it to the right. I felt the stove getting hot.  
“Hotter!” I kept turning it all the way around. Flames shot up from underneath the pot.  
“Okay, I think that’s hot enough,” I said. “Actually, I think that’s too hot.” I started to turn the knob the other way a bit.  
“Left?” asked Undyne. “You can’t do that! That’s not how it works! Hotter!”  
“Okay then!” I said, and kept turning.  
“HOTTER!” I turned it even more. The flames got bigger.  
“Ugh, let me do it!” Undyne said. She pushed me out of the way and grabbed the knob. She turned it so far that the flames doubled in size. “See!” she said. This is how you-”  
*WHOOSH!*  
One of the flames had gotten so big that it had reached over and caught the cutting board on the counter on fire. “AHHH! Fire! Fire!” I screamed.  
“It’s okay! I’m prepared for this situation! Just stay calm!” Undyne grabbed a bucket of water that had been standing by the table and dumped it over the general vicinity of the stove and the cutting board. In doing so, I was drenched.  
We stood there, myself dripping wet.  
“Ah,” said Undyne. “Man, no wonder Papyrus sucks at cooking, huh?”  
We both stared at the scorched cutting board.  
“So, what’s next? Scrapbooking? Friendship bracelets?” Undyne asked brightly.  
If cooking was this disastrous, I had no idea what scrapbooking or friendship bracelets might be like, so I kept quiet.  
“...Oh, who am I kidding,” said Undyne sullenly. “I really screwed this up, didn’t I?” She sighed. “I can’t force you to like me, Frisk. Some people just don’t get along with each other. I understand if you feel this way about me. And if you don’t want to be friends, it’s okay.”  
I opened my mouth to say something, but Undyne interrupted me. “Because...if we’re not friends...” The devilish grin was back.  
“IT MEANS I CAN DESTROY YOU WITHOUT REGRET!”  
She grabbed a new spear and faced me. Uh oh.  
“My window’s broken, my house is a mess, my parents are probably going to KILL me when they get home...I even failed to befriend you,” said Undyne, her head down. “That’s it. I don’t care if you’re my guest anymore. OR about my broken arm. One final rematch! All out on both sides!!! IT’S THE ONLY WAY I CAN REGAIN MY LOST PRIDE!!! NOW COME ON!” She spread her arms wide. “HIT ME WITH ALL YOU’VE GOT! NGAAAHHHH!”  
“U-Undyne, no…” I said apprehensively “I… I don’t want to hurt you…”  
“Nice try, punk!” she said, her eyes gleaming. “You’re not getting out of this that easy! I’m letting YOU make the first move!”  
“No!” I said. “I won’t! I don’t want to!”  
“BRING IT ON!!!” she yelled. “SHOW ME WHAT YOU’VE GOT!”  
I could tell there was no getting out of this. No running away. So I closed my eyes, wound up, and...  
Tap.  
I pretty much just nudged her shoulder with my fist, actually. You could barely call it a punch. Undyne just stared at me for a second.  
“What. That’s the best you can manage?” she asked in disbelief. “Even attacking me at full force, you just can’t muster any intent to hurt me, huh?”  
“Yeah,” I said. “I never wanted to fight you.”  
“Heh, you know what?” Undyne took a deep breath, and dropped her spear on the ground.  
“I don’t actually want to hurt you either. At first, I hated your super saccharine shtick, but... The way you hit me just now...it...reminded me of someone I used to practice with. Now I know you aren’t just some wimpy loser.”  
She gave me a big, toothy grin. “You’re a wimpy loser with a big heart!”  
“Th-thanks, Undyne,” I said with a smile. It felt good to not have to be terrified of her anymore.  
“No problem. Now, let’s get the heck out of here before my folks get home!”  
Undyne and I walked out the front door and stood on the porch.  
“Well, that was fun, huh?” she asked.  
“Yeah, totally...” I replied, trying to hide how traumatizing it had really been.  
“We’ll totally have to hang out again some time!”  
“Yeah!” Even if this particular experience hadn’t been the best, I was actually looking forward to hanging out with her in a… less dangerous situation.  
“Except, maybe do something else.”  
“Um, yes please...”  
“I’ll probably lay low at Papyrus’ house for a while until my parents calm down. So if you need me, just call Papyrus!”  
“Will do!”  
“Well, see ya later, punk!!” Undyne jogged off in the direction of Sans and Papyrus’ house.  
“Bye!” I called after her. “See you soon!”


	11. Chapter 11

The following morning, I woke up early. Mom still wasn’t awake yet, and Dad was working in the garden. I waved to him out the window, and started looking through the cupboards in search of breakfast. I found a bag of frozen waffles in the freezer, and while I heated them up, I made myself a fruit and yogurt parfait, and put some star-shaped sprinkles on top, because why not?  
After breakfast, I began hunting in the cupboards for something suitable for lunch. Mom must have forgotten to go shopping yesterday, because all I found was a package of Instant Noodles and an apple. I know from experience that Instant Noodles are better dry, so I just put the package in my lunch without heating it.  
I decided to take the early bus to school. I didn’t have anything else to do anyway.  
There was literally nobody else on the bus. I mean nobody. I was the only one. (Well, except the driver. That wouldn’t be good.) When the bus got to school, it was like the school was closed or something. Only a few people were there, texting or reading. I went in through the back door (because for some reason, the bus always drops you by the back door) and went through the school and out the front doors. I had to step over Flowey’s pink goop to get there, because it had literally taken over the hallway. It must be part glue, because otherwise the janitor and Woshua would have cleaned it up already.  
When I got outside, I saw absolutely no one. No one likes to get to school early.  
Except... if they have a secret hideout.  
I went around to the side of the school, checked to see if no one was watching, and peeled back the paper over the hole in the wall.  
I heard scuffling inside. I paused, and then crawled in. It was probably Papyrus or Sans. Most likely it was Papyrus, because Sans would never willingly go to school this early. No one else knew about this place. How could they?  
The lights were on inside. As I stood up, something small and light hit me on the shoulder. I looked on the ground where it had fallen. It was an empty takeout container from the Chinese food place at the mall.  
I looked around. There was nobody there. Except...one of the beanbag chairs had a hand poking out from behind it. I edged over to it and looked down.  
There was Papyrus, hiding behind his beanbag chair. “Hey, Papyrus!” I greeted cheerfully.  
“AH!” he screamed. Then he realized who I was. “OH! FRISK! I AM SO SORRY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A TEACHER!”  
I laughed. “And so you threw a takeout container at me? That would land you in deep trouble if I was actually a teacher!”  
Papyrus got back in his beanbag chair. “YES, I SUPPOSE IT WOULD...’ He opened up his book, Peek-A-Boo with Fluffy Bunny, and began to read.  
I flopped down on my beanbag and stared at the lights.  
After Papyrus finished reading, he asked. “HEY, FRISK… WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO AND GET SOME NICE CREAM AFTER SCHOOL TODAY? MY TREAT!”  
“Oh gee... sorry, Papyrus, but I have to pass. I have a science project due in a couple of days, and I’ve barely even started. I should really go to the science lab after school to work on it. Thanks for the offer, though!”  
“OH, OKAY,” said Papyrus. “MAYBE SATURDAY, THEN?”  
“Sounds great!”  
* * *  
Later that day, I was playing poker with the Dogs when all of a sudden, we heard a loud CLUNK. We thought nothing of it for a moment, assuming it to be the janitor knocking around with the pipes in the basement or something, but then it began to get really HOT.  
I tugged at my shirt uncomfortably. Dogamy and Dogaressa pulled off their black sweatshirts. Doggo was already wearing a tank top, so he was fine. The Greater Dog and the Lesser Dog just sat there, holding their cards sideways, staring blankly at the wall.  
We found out later that that loud CLUNK we heard was the air conditioner. More specifically, it was the air conditioner breaking. Even more specifically, the air conditioner and the heater breaking. The air conditioner had broken so that it couldn’t be turned on, and the heater had broken so that it couldn’t be turned off. Which meant that it began to get way too hot inside.  
It was pretty cold outside for early November, which meant that because all of us were dressed in somewhat warm clothes, (long sleeves, sweatshirts, etc.) we were all sweltering. Aaron was using the abnormal temperature as an excuse to go around shirtless, but he got picked up by the dress code police in about a half of a second.  
That didn’t stop the rest of us who had seen Aaron from being scarred for life.  
When I saw Papyrus after P.E., I noticed that he had ditched his scarf and long-sleeved undershirt, and he still looked warm. Sans, on the other hand, was still wearing his usual blue jacket, and he wasn’t even sweating.  
It was lunchtime, and I was wishing I had packed something... cooler for lunch. Like, maybe... a bag of ice cubes?  
I had just poured the packet of dry noodles into my mouth and was chewing when Papyrus plunked his tray down. It consisted of a cheeseburger, along with a solitary carrot. Our cafeteria doesn’t do elegance very well. I’m pretty sure no school cafeteria does.  
Papyrus waved to me. “HI FRISK! BOY, IT’S PRETTY HOT IN HERE, HUH?”  
I nodded, because I was still trying to choke down the enormous mouthful of noodles.  
Papyrus took a bite of his carrot. After he finished chewing, he continued. ”SO, I-”  
“hey, kid. what’s new?”  
Papyrus and I nearly jumped out of our seats. Sans was sitting on the table right next to Papyrus, leaning with his elbow on the table like he had been there the whole time. His tray had a sandwich in the shape of a sword on it... for... some reason. And he had dipped the “blade” part into a massive mound of ketchup.  
Papyrus had opened his mouth to scream at Sans, but closed it abruptly when Undyne sat down at the table next to me. “Hey, guys!” she greeted us as she placed her tray down. It had fish sticks and dipping sauce haphazardly assembled on top of it. “Thought I’d eat with you this time!”  
Undyne turned to me. “Hiya, punk!” she said, and gleefully noogied me several times until I started to choke on my noodles. Then she let me go, and slapped me on the back so vigorously that I could almost feel my spine shattering.  
I had mixed feelings about her decision to eat with us...  
We managed to sweat our way through the rest of the day, sometimes sticking our heads out the window at random moments to get some cold air to avoid melting to death. I was really starting to wish I could have accepted Papyrus’ offer to get Nice Cream...  
Later, after school, I headed to the science lab. The science teacher always lets kids work on their projects in there after school. But when I got there, it was completely dark in the room. I couldn’t even find the light switch. I stumbled around, feeling on the walls. All of a sudden, I heard a door opening. Then the lights came on.  
A girl with blonde hair, large round glasses, and a lab coat was coming out of the built in bathroom. She closed the door, turned around, and noticed me. She practically jumped a foot in the air.  
“Oh. My god,” she said. “I didn’t expect anyone to show up here! She fidgeted nervously. “I haven’t showered, my hair’s a wreck, it’s all messy, and…”  
“???”  
“Ummm...H-H-Hiya!” she stammered.  
“...Hi!”  
“I’m Alphys!” she said. She began sweating, which was either because she was nervous around people or because of the broken air conditioning. “B-b-but, ahhh, you p-probably know me as the nerd who spends all her time in the science lab. This place is s-sort of my second home by now.” She laughed nervously. “Oh, sorry, I was rambling again. So...”  
“Hey! I know you!” said Alphys suddenly.  
I was surprised. “You do?”  
“Y-Yeah! You’re Frisk, right? The one everyone’s been buzzing about! Well, you, and, uh, Undyne. I-I heard that you two had a f-fight or something. But...” she smiled nervously. “Th-that’s not true, right?”  
“Um...”  
“Oh.” Alphys looked worried.  
“But everything’s okay now!” I reassured Alphys. “In fact, to put it in her words, we’re, uh... ‘Besties’?”  
“Oh! W-well, that’s cool!” said Alphys. “But hey, if... if you ever need help on your p-project or anything, just ask me!”  
“Great!”  
“W-well, there’s just one tiny issue...” Alphys suddenly looked uneasy.  
“What is it?” I asked.  
“Y-you see, I have this...this friend named Mettaton,” Alphys explained. “He started out f-fine, just a regular student with a passion for drama. But, as he starred in more and more shows, and got more and more popular, his ego... Well, h-his ego swelled to the size of MX-3000 from Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. And he’s kinda... mean now.”  
“Oh, well as long as I don’t run into him, I’ll be fine, right?”  
“Yeah, just...I’m hoping you d-don’t come to see me about s-something at the wrong time.”  
“Me too.”  
Just then, something that sounded like a *knock* came from the door.  
“...Did you hear something?” asked Alphys.  
“I thought I did.” *knock*  
“Uh...” said Alphys shakily.  
“Yep, I definitely heard that.”  
*knock knock knock*  
The door started to open.  
“Oh, no...” moaned Alphys.  
A tall boy with black hair that fell over his eye in a swoop stepped into the room. He wore a yellow shirt with a black grid pattern on it and a black blazer. “Alphys, darling!” he said with a grin. “I-”  
Just then, we made eye contact. We stared awkwardly at each other for a few seconds. Alphys cleared her throat.  
“Uh, h-hi, Mettaton!” she said. “This is my… uh… friend, Frisk!”  
“Hello,” I said nervously.  
Mettaton gave me a blank stare. “I see,” he said dryly. “Well then… Frisk… any friend of Alphys’ can be reluctantly considered at least an acquaintence of mine.”  
“Pleased to meet you,” I said, extending my hand for a shake.  
He ignored it. “Anyway…” he said, rolling his eyes.  
“So, Alphys, I’m just here to announce that the Unofficial School-Wide Trivia Contest starts in just a little while, and I need you there to help man all the technical business and whatnot!”  
“O-okay!” said Alphys. “Be right there!”  
“And you, whatever your name is,” added Mettaton, turning to me, “you can come as a contestant too, if you really want to.”  
“Sure!” I agreed. “Why not?”  
A little while later (after I had spent some time on my science project, of course...), I was seated in a row with all the other contestants in the school gym. Half the school was sitting on the bleachers spectating, Mettaton was standing at his podium near a giant screen, and Alphys was sitting at a desk nearby, pressing the keys to scroll through the slides projected onto the screen with the questions on it. I waited through all the other contestants’ rounds until...  
“Thank you, Vulkin! What a wonderful round that was, wasn’t it, beauties and gentlebeauties!” said Mettaton as a red-haired person in a cheerleader’s uniform stepped down from the contestant’s table where all the buttons were for answers. “And our final contestant is... drumroll please...” The entire audience stamped their feet, creating a deafening roar that filled the whole gym. “You!” said Mettaton, pointing at me. The audience cheered. I stepped up to the table. “All right, new kid, let’s see what you got!” said Mettaton, as the first question came up on the screen.  
“First question!” Mettaton read the question on the board out loud. “What is the prize for answering correctly? Is it; A: Money, B: Mercy, C: New Car, or D: More questions?”  
“Hmm...” I didn’t see any piles of cash or cars lying about, and what was there for Mettaton to spare me from? “More questions!” I said, pushing the D button.  
“Right!” shouted Mettaton. “Sounds like you get it!”  
“Here’s your terrific prize! Next question! What is our class president’s full name? Is it; A: President Fluffybuns, B: Fuzzy Pushover, C: Asgore Dreemurr, or D: Dr. Friendship?”  
“Uh...” I knew Undyne had said something about the class president, but I was blanking on the name...  
“Time’s up! You should really read the school paper, darling!” said Mettaton as the timer ran out and answer C flashed on the screen. Darn it.  
“Enough about him. Let’s talk about me! What are actors made of? Is it; A: Hopes & Dreams, B: Teamwork & Talent, C: Snips & Snails, or D: Sugar & Spice?”  
Again, I was stuck. I had no clue. I had started scanning the room for any sign of the answer as the timer ticked down when I saw Alphys. She noticed my distress, glanced nervously at Mettaton, then looked at me and formed a B with her hands.  
“Um...Teamwork & Talent?” I said, pressing cautiously on the B button.  
“Too easy for you, huh??? Here’s another easy one for you!”  
“Two trains, train A and Train B simultaneously depart from Station A and Station B. Station A and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7 mph toward Station B and Train B is moving at 253.5 mph toward station A. If both trains departed at 10:00 and it is now 12:00, how much longer until both trains pass each other?”  
“A: 31.053 minutes, B: 16.232 minutes, C: 32.049 minutes, or D: 32.058 minutes.”  
“Uh....” I shot Alphys a nervous look. She flashed me a D with her hands. I pressed the D button.  
“Wonderful!” shouted Mettaton as the crowd cheered. “I’m astounded, folks!”  
“Don’t ‘count’ on your victory...How many flies are in this jar?” A jar came onscreen with dozens of little dots floating around inside it. There was no way I could count them in just thirty seconds. I had to get help again. Alphys flashed me an A.  
“54!” I said, smashing the A button.  
“Correct! You’re so lucky today!” cheered Mettaton.  
“Let’s play memory game.” A picture of a frog appeared onscreen. “What is this?”  
“Pfft, too easy!” I scoffed, and pressed the C button for Frog.  
“Haha, nope!” laughed Mettaton. The picture on the screen zoomed out and it was actually...Mettaton. Wearing a shirt with a frog on it. “Improve your memory and come back!”  
“What?!?” I cried in outrage, but Mettaton ignored me and moved on to the next question.  
“Here’s a simple one: Would you smooch a DJ?”  
All the answers said... Heck Yeah. And instead of counting down, the numbers went up on the timer. I had no choice. “........Heck Yeah........”  
“Great answer! I love it!” shouted Mettaton. The audience cheered.  
“Here’s another easy one!” The question came onscreen. It said, “How many letters in the name Mettatonnnnnnnnnnnnn....” The N’s in the name trailed down the screen and away from view. As the number of N’s increased, the numbers of the answers got bigger and bigger. So fast that I couldn’t even tell what each of them said. I needed a tip from Alphys again. She curved her hands so that they made a “C.”  
“Um... C.”  
“Of course, that was easy for you!” Mettaton smiled a dazzling smile. “Let’s bring out the big guns!”  
“In the dating simulation video game ‘Mew Mew Kissy Cutie,’ what is Mew Mew’s favorite food?”  
Alphys practically exploded. She bounced out of her chair as her hand shot up and she screamed, “OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE!!! IT’S SNAIL ICE CREAM!!! IN THE FOURTH CHAPTER EVERYONE GOES TO THE BEACH!!! AND SHE BUYS ICE CREAM FOR ALL HER FRIENDS!!! BUT IT’S SNAIL FLAVORED AND SHE’S THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS IT!!! IT’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE GAME BECAUSE IT’S ACTUALLY A VERY POWERFUL message about friendship and...” Alphys’ voice trailed off.  
“Alphys, Alphys, Alphys,” Mettaton scolded. “You aren’t helping our contestant, are you?” Alphys shook her head frantically. “OOOHHHHH! You should have told me. I’ll ask a question you’ll be sure to know the answer to!” Alphys bit her nails, terrified.  
“Who does Alphys have a crush on? Is it; A: Undyne, B: Asgore, C: The new kid, or D: Don’t know?”  
Alphys looked at me fearfully. I thought for a minute. “Um… Undyne?” I said, pressing the A button.  
“See, Alphys?” Mettaton asked her. Alphys didn’t answer. She had her bright red face buried in her hands. “I told you it was obvious. Even the new kid figured it out. Yes, she scrawls her name in the margins of her notes. She names programming variables after her. She even writes stories about them together, sharing a domestic life. Probability of crush: 101%. Margin of error: 1%.”  
“Well, well, well,” Mettaton continued, shaking his head. “With Alphys helping you, this contest has zero dramatic tension! We can’t go on like this!!” He flashed the audience a dazzling smile. “Well, then, folks, I guess that concludes the Second Annual Unofficial School-Wide Trivia Contest! Toodles, everyone! You’ve been a great audience!”  
The audience erupted with chants of “Met-ta-ton! Met-ta-ton!” Mettaton waved and blew kisses to his adoring fans as he sauntered out of the gym. Eventually the audience got up from the bleachers and started to leave as well. I went over to Alphys, who was still blushing madly.   
“That question... he wasn’t supposed to ask that last one...”  
“I’m sorry, I just... well, at least she wasn’t there, right?”  
“Y-yeah... well, I uh... I should probably go do some work on my science project in the lab.”  
“Okay, yeah. Me too, actually. Mind if I tag along?”  
“S-sure! Yeah, let’s...let’s go.”  
We headed off toward the science lab and did our best to put the afternoon’s events behind us.


	12. Chapter 12

After I had made some decent progress on my project, I managed to scrape all my stuff together and walk down the hall. I waded through the pink sludge on the floor, which was now up to my ankles, and left the building.  
Then I realized...I had no way to get home! The last bus had left hours ago. I sat on the steps, and thought. The only thing I could come up with was to walk. So I did. I took Sans’ shortcut through the park and around the garbage dump, taking extra care not to fall in this time. I arrived directly on my street. I went into my house, and found Dad watching TV in the den and a note from Mom saying she had gone to the grocery store to get some food. The note said to stay in the house and to not bother Dad.  
I flopped on the other couch and took out my History homework. Ugh. My history teacher may be cool, but she doesn’t go easy on us when it comes to homework. A 5-page packet on ancient China! I took out my pencil and started writing the answer to number one. I had barely written two words, when the phone rang.  
I picked up. The voice on the other end sounded familiar. “hello?”  
I was stunned. “Sans? How did you get this number?”  
“papyrus dialed every number sequentially until he got yours.”  
I laughed. “That does sound like him. What’s up?”  
Sans was practically frantic. “he needs you. like, now. please. come here.”  
I was taken aback by Sans’ rapid speech. Normally he talks slowly. “Wait, Sans? I-”  
*Click...  
I ran to the table and looked at the note. Now that I had read it more closely, it didn’t actually say “Don’t leave the house.” It said “Don’t leave the neighborhood.”  
I thought for a minute. I didn’t think Mom would think that Papyrus and Sans’ house would classify as “in the neighborhood,” but I had to go. Papyrus needed me. For...something.  
I threw on my jacket and sprinted out the door. I raced down the street and hung a right at the corner. There was the house. I ran up the front steps and rang the doorbell. Sans answered it. “hey. good to see ya, but we can catch up later, okay? first you need to help papyrus. he’s in his room. undyne’s in there too. i think he’s having a nervous breakdown.”  
I went into Papyrus’ room. Apparently, the “No girls allowed” rule had been temporarily revoked, because Undyne was in there too. Papyrus was lying on his side on the bed, curled up in fetal position, eyes closed. Undyne was sitting in a chair by the bed. She looked up when I came in. “Oh, hey. You here for Papyrus too?”  
I nodded.  
“Yeah, I… I think he’s asleep? I don’t know what happened.”  
“What happened?”  
Undyne winced. “Um, yeah...I told him that he would have to sub for me in the football game tomorrow, because I have a broken arm...and a broken THROWING arm, no less. He started freaking out.”  
Undyne sighed. “I thought he was just excited, so I kept hyping it up to him, talking about how much the team needed him and all the plays I was going to have him do. I tried to have him look through the playbook with me, but he didn’t seem like he could concentrate. Eventually he just shoved it away and mumbled that he was super tired and… kind of just fell asleep. He’s been like that for, like, five minutes.”  
I leaned over Papyrus. He seemed sound asleep. “Let’s just give him some space for a bit,” I said to Undyne. She nodded, and we quietly left the room and headed downstairs.  
We all sat down on the couch in the living room and tried to have a normal conversation, but none of us were really paying attention.  
After about ten minutes, which seemed more like ten years, we heard the door at the top of the stairs open. “GUYS?” we heard a voice say. “WHERE ARE YOU?”  
Something blue and white flew up the stairs and onto Papyrus. It was Sans, giving Papyrus a crushing hug. I didn’t think that Sans could move that fast! When Papyrus started gasping for air, Sans let go and sat down on the floor. “Whoa, Sans! You’re gonna make him pass out again!” Undyne laughed.  
When everyone calmed down and we had all sat down on the couch again, I asked Papyrus, “So, why were you having a nervous breakdown?”  
Papyrus looked anxious. “WELL, UNDYNE THAT I WAS GOING TO HAVE TO SUB FOR HER, AND I DIDN’T THINK I’D BE UP TO THE RESPONSIBILITY! I MEAN,” he said, turning to Undyne, “YOU’RE SO GOOD, AND I’M SO…”  
Undyne cut him off. “Great? Amazing?”  
Papyrus stared openmouthed at her. “UNDYNE? DO YOU… REALLY MEAN THAT??”  
“’Course I do,” said Undyne off-handedly. “The only thing that was holding you back was nerves!”’  
“B-BUT,” began Papyrus. “ARE YOU SURE?? I MEAN… WHAT IF I MESS UP?”  
Undyne placed her hands on Papyrus’ shoulders. “Papyrus,” she said. “I picked YOU as my sub for a reason. I wouldn’t have picked you if I didn’t think you could do it. Haven’t you been training hard?”  
“Y-YEAH…”  
“Aren’t you the one best suited for the job?”  
“YES!”  
“Aren’t you gonna get out there and KICK SOME ASS???”  
“YES!!!” Papyrus leapt up from the couch. "WOWIE!!! NYEH HEH HEH! MY CONFIDENCE HAS BEEN RESTORED! THANK YOU, FRISK! THANK YOU, UNDYNE! THANK YOU, SANS! I AM OFF TO THE FOOTBALL FIELD FOR SOME RIGOROUS TRAINING EXERCISES! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!” He skipped out of the door. I heard him bouncing down the steps and out the door.  
Sans smiled. “welp, there goes one happy football sub. i gotta go, guys,” he said as he got up from the couch. “i have...things to do.”  
Undyne looked at him. “What things?”  
“oh, you know, not doing my homework. not practicing my trombone, not doing the book report that’s due tomorrow. Same old stuff, basically.” He winked, and then went into his room. I heard the door lock shut behind him.  
Undyne also stood up. “I gotta go too. I’ve ACTUALLY got things to do.” She opened the door. “See ya later, punk.”  
I waved as she left the room, and I was left alone, sitting in the middle of Sans and Papyrus’ living room.  
* * *  
The next day, like so many other eventful days in my life so far, was a Saturday. I only hoped that this one would be less ludicrous. So far, on previous Saturdays, I had gone on a date with someone I barely knew, had breakfast at a sketchy pub, and gotten chased through a forest by a spear-toting psychopath.  
In anticipation of Papyrus’ big game that day, my mind was wandering as I made my breakfast, and I somehow managed to pour milk on my toast and butter my cereal. I sighed, dumped the contents of my plate and bowl into the garbage, and started over.  
As I put another slice of toast into the toaster, I heard a loud “SLAP!” on the window. I jumped. I looked out the window, but I didn’t see anything, I paused for a moment, then, satisfied that no one was there trying to smash in my window-pane, got out another bowl of cereal.  
I was just pouring the milk when I heard it again, and this time I saw a blue-sleeved arm hit the window. I jumped again, spraying milk all over my shirt and the kitchen. I shouted something I probably shouldn’t have, and leapt over to the back door, and pulled it open with such force that it slammed against the wall with a loud crash. I glared at the person outside, who was, most unsurprisingly, Sans.  
He grinned at me. “what?”  
I did not return the smile. “You know, when you want to get someone’s attention, there is this wonderful device called a door, which you can knock on instead of banging on peoples’ windows like a numbskull!”  
Sans shrugged guiltlessly. “i didn’t want to disturb you.”  
“DISTURB me? Of course you didn’t disturb me! I just doused myself in milk because I felt like it!”  
I splashed the rest of the few drops of milk and bits of cereal in my bowl at him.  
He raised his hands in a feeble attempt to block the breakfast matter and chuckled. “okay, okay. i give. now come on, we’re gonna be late.”  
“Late for what?” I asked, but Sans had already grabbed my arm and pulled me through one of his famous shortcuts. He went through a hole in my back fence, cut through somebody’s garden, and I swear we even went through a manhole at one point, but we ended up at...  
“The football field!” I exclaimed. “Thanks, Sans, I didn’t know the game started so early!”  
“it doesn’t. we’re here for...well, you’ll see.” We walked into the gates, and a short kid at a table was selling tickets. Sans leaned over and began to whisper in the kid’s ear. The kid hesitated, then nodded knowingly. He went in a side door, and came out with two tickets. He handed them to Sans, and without another word, sat back down at the table. “undyne’s got us covered,” Sans whispered to me as we walked to our seats. “we had to get here early or everyone would be wondering why we got free tickets, and they would start whining, and nobody likes whiners.”  
“Gotcha,” I said to him. We got our seats, right next to the benches where the players sit. The team was out doing some warm-ups and last-minute practice. Undyne was sitting on the bench, wearing her uniform despite her broken arm, just as if she was about to leap onto the field and start beating the crud out of everybody.  
Undyne turned when she saw us. “Hey, guys!” She grinned at us.  
Sans waved lazily. I waved more enthusiastically. “Hi, Undyne!” I greeted her.  
She looked at the gates. “Uh...have you seen Alphys around? I wanna talk to her about something.”  
I shrugged. “No, sorry. She doesn’t really seem like the football type, anyway.”  
Undyne slumped on her seat in the bench. “Bummer.” We sat in silence for a while. As we waited, more people started coming in. Pretty soon, the whole field was packed. After a while, Undyne stood up, winked at us, and walked calmly into the center of the field.  
The entire crowd went silent. Undyne was basically a local football legend, and everyone wanted to hear what she had to say. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she announced, her voice echoing throughout the field. She must have been wearing a wireless mic or something, because her voice sounded unnaturally loud. Or then again, maybe not. Undyne’s pretty loud normally. “Boys and girls. As you can probably guess,” she held up her broken arm cast, “I will not be playing in today’s game.”  
The crowd began to buzz, but Undyne held up her hand for silence. “But don’t worry! For I have found a fantastic replacement! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...” She reached into the huddle of the E.H.S. team and pulled a player out. “Papyrus!” Papyrus waved enthusiastically.  
The crowd went completely silent. They had never seen Papyrus in action before. They just sat there, wondering why this weedy-looking kid they’d never seen before was subbing for Undyne. Undyne gave them an ultra-glare. “Well, COME ON, then, CLAP already!” The audience clapped nervously. Papyrus slunk away back to the huddle.  
There were a few seconds of awkward silence. Finally, Undyne just threw the football in the middle. “Fine. Here. Start.” She walked (slightly less calmly) off the field and sat back down.  
Sans was actually sitting up, and he actually seemed to be paying attention to what was going on around him, surprisingly. He was talking to himself. “come on, bro, you gotta do this, you gotta prove you can do this!”  
Undyne sat sullenly on her bench. I didn’t try talking to her. I know better than to try to talk to her when she’s in a mood like that. And, on that note, it began to rain. Starting at a drizzle, the rain grew into a substantial sprinkle, driving many of the less-dedicated fans out of the stadium. Sans and I stayed, of course, as did Undyne. Among the people who remained were Dogaressa, diligently holding out for the sake of her boyfriend Dogamy, and that blonde kid I met at the bus stop. They were all decked out in a foam hand and E.H.S. baseball cap.  
The first quarter passed relatively uneventfully, with nobody scoring. There was a close call in which the visiting team was only a couple of yards away from its end zone. Fortunately, Doggo, who was the receiver, managed to catch a long pass over the heads of the other team. Papyrus still hadn’t had a lot of success, though he was trying his best. The other team was just too good, intercepting when they could, and tackling when they couldn’t.  
In no time, the break at the end of the first quarter was over, and the players rushed back to the field. The center snapped the ball underneath his legs to the quarterback, Dogamy, who quickly handed it over to Papyrus, and he was off and running, weaving through the opposing team’s big hands, expertly dodging tackle attempts, and maneuvering around attempted grabs. His eyes were shining and his face was beaming as he executed each dodge.  
“Wow,” I said, nudging Sans, “All that practice time with Undyne has paid off, hasn’t it?” He nodded, but he didn’t take his eyes off the perfect, graceful running machine that was his brother.  
Perfect, that is, until he tripped right around the 30-yard line, dropped the ball, and splatted on his face in the wet turf.  
That was it for the crowd. They began to boo and berate Papyrus savagely for his fumble. No one remembered that he had single-handedly ran the ball more than 50 yards. They only remembered that he had tripped and fumbled the ball. Papyrus stood up, and the rain did nothing to help his gloomy expression as he slumped back into position near the ball.  
Undyne looked like if she could throttle the entirety of the crowd, she would. I could hear her muttering savagely under her breath “Stupid people, can’t you SEE that he just made a move that even I’VE never made before?”  
The quarter continued, with what little yardage we gained quickly being taken back by the opposition. Soon, it was the end of the first half. The huddle broke up quickly, and the teams took their positions for the kickoff by the Lesser Dog. The opposing team received the kick, and the catcher was immediately taken down by the Greater Dog. After that, a lucky pass by their team’s quarterback led to them getting dangerously close to the end zone. A successful block resulted in the aversion of the first touchdown of the game.  
The rest of the quarter passed uneventfully, and the break between quarters was long and drawn-out as both planned their strategies.  
Now that our team was on the offense, it was Papyrus’ moment to make or break the game. The teams grappled with one another for yards, with very few gains for us. Finally, it was the last play of the game. 54 seconds remained on the clock, and when our team broke out of the huddle, I saw a sly smile on Papyrus’ face.  
When the play began, Papyrus ran like heck to the opposite side of the field, but since he didn’t have the ball, no one stopped him. He was now the only one on that side of the field. The other team (and most of the spectators) began to laugh at him.  
“You moron!”  
“No one can throw that far!”  
“What a loser!”  
They underestimated both Greater Dog’s throwing arm and Papyrus’ running ability. Before anyone could react, Papyrus received the ball, and began to sprint for the end zone. The wet ball slipped from his fingers for a moment as he ran, but he managed to keep hold as he leaped triumphantly over the end line.  
The place went nuts. Sans went even more nuts. He stood up and began yelling and jumping around like a little kid on Christmas, and he had this big old grin on his face. (Well, bigger than usual, anyway.)  
I jumped up too and began to cheer like crazy.  
Undyne stood up as well and just started screaming.  
Pretty soon, the whole crowd on our side of the field was standing up and cheering.  
Our team had Papyrus up in their hands and they were carrying him around the field and cheering. Papyrus was just grinning like an idiot up there. He was on the top of the world that morning.

* * *  
We snuck into the gym as the Lesser Dog was going inside. No one stopped us, which meant they either didn’t notice us or they were too busy taking selfies with Undyne.  
The gym was dark, but we managed to stumble across to the locker room doors. We waited by the boys’ door for Papyrus to come out.  
Four football players, one little brother of one of the football players, and one small, white dog passed us out the doors before we finally heard the telltale squeak of Papyrus’ shoes on the hard floor.  
He pushed open the door with a flourish, a little too strongly than Sans would have liked, owing to the fact that he was standing right where the door smashed into the wall. He kept silent, though, and Papyrus started strolling back to the gym doors.  
We crept up behind him and Sans gave him his best football tackle while I switched on the lights. Fortunately, we were on the carpet part of the gym lobby, so I don’t think it hurt him.  
Papyrus shrieked, but then Sans started hugging him and I started laughing. Papyrus realized what was happening, pushed Sans off of him, and stood up so they could hug properly.  
“bro! you did awesome!” Sans told his brother.  
“Absolutely!” I concurred. “That was incredible!”  
Papyrus shook his head. “I REALLY NEED TO WORK ON MY RECEPTION. THE BALL ALMOST SLIPPED OUT OF MY HANDS.”  
We stared at him.  
“I’M JOKING, OF COURSE! I WAS FANTASTIC!” he laughed. “THANK YOU, SANS! AND THANK YOU, FRISK!”  
I grinned at him. “You really did do great!” I praised him.  
“yeah, that was quite a catch.”  
“THANK YOU!” Papyrus beamed.  
We just stood there for a moment, playing Papyrus’ amazing play over in our minds.  
I broke the silence. “So! Who wants Nice Cream? I have a 5 in my pocket because I thought we had to pay for tickets, and there’s really no sense in letting it go to waste!”  
“THAT SOUNDS FANTASTIC! BUT HOW WILL WE GET THERE? THE EXIT IS SO VERY CROWDED!”  
Sans gave me a knowing look. “trust me. i know a shortcut.”


	13. Chapter 13

All too soon, I found myself back in class. Science class, this time. The teacher stood in front of her desk, in customary faded pink hair ribbon and white lab coat, but with the sleeves rolled up, because the heating still hadn’t been fixed.  
“All right, class, settle down...” she said. The class stopped talking and looked at her. Well, most of them did. Jerry was still talking and carrying on with some of the other kids in his row. The teacher waited patiently for him to figure out it was time to shut up. She was very good at that.  
When at last everyone was quiet, she announced, “Today we’ll be assigning lab partners for next week’s lab. I have here a jar with all of your names in it. I’ll draw out two names at a time, and those two will be partners!”  
Everyone looked around the classroom nervously. Assigned partners are always risky. Especially if you happen to be new in school and barely know anybody in your class. The teacher wasted no time. She reached into the jar and pulled out the first names.  
“Shyren...and Napstablook.” Napstablook and a girl with long blue hair and a green dress looked at each other and smiled shyly.  
“Jerry...and Chilldrake.”  
“Alright!” yelled Jerry way too loudly, and held up his hand to high five to Chilldrake. Chilldrake just glared at him.  
“Bratty...and Catty-”  
“EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” squealed two girls in the back row as they hugged each other.  
“Temmie...”  
“tEmMie?!?!” squeaked Temmie, sitting up in her chair with wide eyes.  
“...and Aaron.” Temmie’s face crumpled and she slumped down and put her head on her desk.  
“muscles r... not cute...” she moaned.  
“Sans...and Alphys.” Sans and Alphys made eye contact from across the room and nodded and smiled.  
“Frisk...”  
“Oh, gosh, here it comes...” I thought.  
“...and Mettaton.”  
I looked over at Mettaton warily, who sat a couple of rows away. He looked back at me with a blasé expression.  
“Well, it could be worse,” I thought. “Right?”  
Wrong.  
* * *  
Lunch period found me sliding my tray along the counter, because stupid me had forgotten to pack a lunch the previous night. I knew I was missing something when I left for school. It’s a very good thing I never go anywhere without a $5 bill in my pocket.  
The sandy-haired kid behind the counter placed a wrapped-up something on my tray. “Hi, there!” I said, trying to be polite.  
“You are really scraping the bottom of the barrel,” he said with a bored look. “I’m sorry, it’s against the rules to talk to people while I’m working.”  
“Oh... okay then.”  
“...so I wanted to join the Drama Club,” continued the kid abruptly.  
“Oh!” I said, surprised. “Well, why didn’t you?”  
“My grades are too bad. I’m only ‘helping out’ here for the extra credit.”  
“Aw, that’s too bad.”  
He sighed. “Yeah, I-” He got cut off as someone behind me bumped into me way too hard for it to have been an accident. I slammed into the counter and all my food flew off my tray. I turned my head to see Mettaton sashaying away into the mass of kids in the cafeteria.  
“Hey, watch it, jerk!” yelled the kid behind the counter at Mettaton’s disappearing back. Mettaton ignored him. “You okay?” he asked me as he reached over the counter to toss my wrapped-up something back onto my tray.  
“Yeah, I’m all right,” I said, pulling myself back together.  
“Man, I hate that guy. He’s such a jerk, but everybody loves him anyway.”  
I glanced over at Mettaton, who was sitting at a lunch table, surrounded by adoring fans. “I’m beginning to see that,” I agreed as I gestured to the kids behind me to go ahead in front of me.  
“Why do people find him so attractive, anyway?” griped the kid. “He’s nothing but a big show-off.”  
“Yeah...but I guess I’m going to have to deal with it, seeing as we’re going to be lab partners.”  
“You have to be lab partners with Mettaton?” asked the kid. “Man, I pity you.”  
“Yeah, well, maybe it won’t be so bad.”  
“Eeesh. Good luck, little buddy.”  
“Thanks,” I said. Just then, I heard someone call my name. I looked over and saw Sans waving at me from our usual lunch table. “All right, well, I gotta go now,” I told the kid. “See you around?”  
“Same time tomorrow,” he replied.  
I gathered up my tray and headed on over to our lunch table. “Where’s Papyrus?” I asked Sans.  
“he’s doing some football thing or something in the gym,” Sans explained. “what were you doing over there?”  
“Oh, I was just talking to the cafeteria helper guy,” I told him. “He seems pretty cool.”  
“oh, that guy?” he asked. “yeah, i’ve seen him a couple times. he doesn’t really do much except work in the cafeteria. i don’t think anyone really knows him for anything else.”  
“That really sucks. He hates working in there. He said he’d join the Drama Club, but his grades are too bad.”  
“oh, did he tell you that?” asked Sans. “that’s not why he doesn’t go.”  
“Really?”  
“yeah. he did join the other year, and he was the lead in the school musical.  
“of course, mettaton couldn’t stand that,” continued Sans. “he was only a freshman, but he’d already established his reputation and was gathering a fanbase. he couldn’t stand seeing someone else taking the spotlight.”  
“I bet.”  
“so do you know what he did?”  
“No, what?”  
“mettaton switched the guy’s costume’s pants to a size smaller right before opening night. during his big dance number, he had to do the splits, and when he did, his pants were so tight that they ripped wide open.”  
“Oh, no, that’s awful!” I felt even sorrier for the poor guy.  
“yeah. everybody in the audience either laughed or booed him off the stage. now the only place he can show his face is as the helper in the cafeteria. it’s pretty much the most degrading job ever in this school.”  
“Wow, that’s just terrible.”  
Sans nodded. “hey,” he added. “don’t go talking about it to anyone else, okay? i think it’s sort of blown over by now, but the last thing anybody’d want would be for it to rise to the surface again. and... especially don’t tell papyrus.” Sans chuckled. “believe it or not, he’s actually a pretty big fan of mettaton’s. i think his entire world view would be shattered if he heard mettaton did something like that.”  
“Will do.” I glanced over at the kid again, who was leaning against the wall, looking positively miserable.  
“I just hope something like that doesn’t happen when I’m lab partners with Mettaton...”  
* * *  
“Hello again!” I greeted the kid behind the counter the next day at lunch. I had decided to buy my lunch again (on purpose this time) so I could talk to him some more.  
The kid had been resting his chin on his hands with his elbows on the counter looking half-asleep, but he brightened up when he saw me. “Hey there, little buddy!” He smiled. “What can I get you?”  
“Hmm...I’ll have the taco!”  
He placed a reheated taco on my tray. “Here you go!”  
“Thanks, man!”  
“So, how’d it go with Mettaton?” he asked.  
“Oh, the lab’s not actually until next Wednesday,” I explained.  
“Wow. So you have almost a whole week to worry about it? That’s rough.”  
“Don’t remind me.”  
“Listen. I like you, little buddy. So I’m gonna give you some free advice.”  
“What is it?” I asked.  
“Avoid interaction with attractive people at all, and I mean ALL costs. Like Mettaton. And those two girls who run the student store. Unless you’re ‘one of them’, they’re just going to take advantage of you. Take it from me, little buddy.”  
“Wow.”  
“...Well, I should probably get to washing these dishes,” he said with a grimace, waving a hand at a sink full to the brim with grimy lunch trays. “See you later?”  
“Totally,” I nodded. “Oh, hey! I actually never got your name.”  
“Oh...” said the kid, rolling his eyes. “Everyone just calls me Burgerpants.”  
I desperately tried to suppress a laugh, but it ended up sounding like a strangled snort. “What?”  
“Yep. You heard me right. Burgerpants,” said the kid despondently.  
“How come they call you that?”  
Burgerpants sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll tell you the story. So you know those two girls who run the student store?”  
“Bratty and Catty? Yeah, sure I do.”  
“Well, one time they asked me to sneak them some hamburgers. And I, naïve kid that I was, said yes to them. Bad idea.”  
“Uh oh. What happened?”  
“So I went out to the student store to see those two girls and... then the lunch lady saw me and asked what I was doing. She came looking for me when she needed me to stuff burritos or something. I was so startled that the hamburgers in my pockets tumbled out onto the ground. Not wanting to lose face, I scrambled to pick them up! But as I bent over, the weight of the remaining hamburgers... caused my pants to fall down.”  
Burgerpants looked at the ground. “Then the girls laughed at me. Everyone calls me Burgerpants now.”  
He suddenly brightened and grinned a nervous grin. “But you won’t, will you, little buddy?”  
“Oh, no,” I assured him. “Of course not. Hey, I should probably go eat now. See you later!”  
“Any time, little buddy.”  
I hurried over to my table, shoved my tray down, said a quick hello to Sans and Papyrus, and immediately turned and ran out the cafeteria door. I dashed over to the open window of a classroom that acted as the student store. The window opened down and acted as a counter.  
Inside were the two girls who ran it, Bratty and Catty. “Hi, girls!” I said.  
“Oh my god!” said Bratty. “Catty! Someone actually came!”  
“I’m, like, SO surprised, Bratty!” added Catty.  
“Actually, I need your opinion.”  
“Nuh-uh!” Bratty shook her head. “No talking unless you buy something first!”  
“Come ON, Bratty, we haven’t had someone in, like, forever.”  
“No way!” insisted Bratty. “Buy something or leave!”  
“Okay, okay, fine!” I pulled a dollar out of my pocket and slammed it on the counter. “Gimme a potato chips!”  
“Like, fine, I guess.” Bratty tossed a bag of air disguised as a bag of potato chips on the counter. I grabbed it and threw it on the ground.  
“That’s not even what I came here for.”  
“I came for your opinion on Burgerpants.” I decided to use his nickname because, well, I didn’t know his real name, and if I did, I don’t think anybody would know who I was talking about.  
Bratty and Catty answered at the same time.  
“Oh my god, he’s, like, SO weird,” said Bratty.  
“Oh my god, he’s, like, SO cute,” said Catty.  
Bratty just stared at her. Then they both burst into giggles. “C’mon, Catty! Don’t you have ANY standards?”  
“Nope!!”  
Bratty turned to me. “OK, like, the annoying thing is, he’d actually be okay if he treated us with some respect. Like, he was supposed to give us hamburgers and ended up pulling his pants down and running away. I mean, what is up with that?”  
“He didn’t mean to, but whatever,” I corrected her. “Anyway, thanks, bye!”  
“Like, see you later!” said Bratty.  
“Like, later and stuff!” chimed in Catty.  
I sprinted back to the cafeteria, bursting with excitement. “Hey! HEY!” I called to Burgerpants, careful not to call him that.  
“Oh, hi again, little buddy! What is it?” he asked.  
“Catty thinks you’re cute.”  
Burgerpants just looked at me for a second.  
“They were... talking about me?”  
“Yeah.” I told him what Bratty and Catty had said about him.  
“...if I want to be friends with them, I should just... uh, try to see things from their perspective?” Burgerpants shook his head sadly. “Wow. Poor, naïve little buddy. They’ve brainwashed you. ‘Friendship’ is just a hot person’s way of making you their slave.” He just stood there for a second after that. “...So, uh, what time would they wanna hang out?”  
“Uh...” I said, surprised. “I don’t know. Be right back!” I tore out of the cafeteria and back to the student store. “Hi again!” I said to Bratty and Catty. “I already bought some potato chips, so can we just talk?”  
“Nuh-uh! Buy another potato chips!”  
“Somehow, I KNEW you would say that...” I handed over another dollar and Catty handed over another bag of air.  
“So, uh, Burgerpants wants to know if you want to hang out.”  
“Oh my god, like, totally,” said Catty.  
“Oh my god, like, totally NOT,” said Bratty.  
“Oh, come on, Bratty! It’ll be FUN! He can come look for junk with us!” pleaded Catty.  
“No.”  
“Pleeeeeeease?!?!” begged Catty.  
“But, like, if we let him hang out with us... I just worry it’ll ...”  
“...be really super fun!”  
“That’s NOT what I was gonna say,” giggled Bratty.  
“But I was close, right?!?”  
“Well, that kind of guy...” Bratty sighed. “I mean, you hang out with him once, and then he wants to hang out... All. The. Time.”  
“But don’t you feel bad for him, Bratty?” coaxed Catty. “Think about how cool we are compared to him!!! We’d be saving his life with our friendship!! His LIFE, Bratty!!”  
“Uh, so?”  
Both girls were silent.  
“Think of all the hamburgers he could get for us!!” Catty cajoled.  
“...so is he free after school?” Bratty finally asked.  
“Lemme go check! Be right back!” I raced back to the cafeteria. This messenger gig was giving me a real workout. “They want to hang out after school,” I told Burgerpants upon my return.  
“Really?” he asked in disbelief.  
“Yep.”  
“Ha!” Burgerpants laughed in triumph. “Ahahaha! Yes!!! I won’t let you down!” He cleared his throat and composed himself. “Little buddy, thank you,” he said. “You’ve brought a tear to the eye of this old man.”  
“No problem, buddy!”  
“So, uh, where do they want to go?”  
“...They... They want to hang out at the garbage dump,” I told him.  
“...”  
“...Well, nowhere to go but up, right, little buddy?”  
“Sure! Good luck!” I said, giving him a wink. “See you later!”  
“Anytime, little buddy.”  
I hurried over to my lunch table, where Sans and Papyrus had finished their lunches ages ago. “What were you doing this time?” Sans asked.  
“Being a matchmaker.”  
“SAY WHAT?”  
“Yup. That’s what I was doing this time.”  
I explained the story to Sans and Papyrus as I ate my reheated taco. It turned out to take longer that I thought. I had just barely finished when the bell rang. We meandered down the hall toward the locker room, talking about nothing in particular. All of a sudden, a huge crowd surged toward a nearby bulletin board, almost knocking me over.  
“Woah! What’s all this?” I asked.  
“OOH!” exclaimed Papyrus. “THEY’VE FINALLY POSTED THE LIST FOR ‘TRY SOMETHING NEW DAY’ TOMORROW!!”  
“Dumb name. What is it?”  
“FOR ONE DAY, INSTEAD OF OUR REGULAR ELECTIVES, THE SCHOOL ASSIGNS US A NEW ONE! AND YES, I MUST ADMIT, THE NAME COULD BE BETTER. AS GREAT AS OUR CLASS PRESIDENT, ASGORE, IS, HE IS PRETTY LOUSY AT NAMES.”  
“He-He’s that great, huh?” I said nervously, remembering all I had heard about the big, tough guy that was my class president. But nobody heard me.  
“as far as I can figure, they’re either trying to force us to do as much stuff as possible to be ‘well rounded’ or whatever, or they’re just reminding you how bad of a choice you made picking your own elective,” explained Sans.  
“OH, COME ON, SANS! THIS WILL BE FUN! LET’S GO SEE WHAT WE GOT!”  
I, for one, was intrigued. “Yeah, let’s go check it out!”  
We pushed and squeezed our way through the crowd until we got close enough to see the list.  
“Oh, neat! I got Cooking!” I exclaimed.  
Alphys, a few feet away, heard me. “H-hey! I got that too!” she called to me.  
“Great!” I shouted back. I turned to Papyrus. “What’d you get, Papyrus?”  
“I GOT ENGINEERING!” said Papyrus excitedly. “WAIT,” he said suddenly. “I WONDER WHERE...” He scanned the list again. “OH! FRISK! FRISK! YOU’RE SO LUCKY! GUESS WHO’S IN YOUR CLASS!”  
“Um... Sans?”  
“NOPE!” said Papyrus eagerly. “YOU GOT METTATON! I’M SOOOO JEALOUS!”  
“Mettaton. Great. I’m sooo lucky...”


	14. Chapter 14

I was nervous all night and all through first and second periods the next day. I caught up with Sans and Papyrus during break. “Hey, guys!” I greeted them. “How was Engineering, Papyrus?” He had had his elective second period.  
“IT WAS FANTASTIC! I LEARNED A LOT AND HAD A LOT OF FUN!” Papyrus thought for a second. “ALTHOUGH, IT WOULD HAVE GONE A LOT BETTER IF MY PARTNER HADN’T DESTROYED ALMOST EVERYTHING THAT WE BUILT...”  
“Is that my fault?” asked Undyne, coming up from behind him and punching him in the shoulder. “I couldn’t help that those screws were so darn tiny! You’re lucky I didn’t end up bending that miniscule screwdriver into a knot and throwing it out the window!”  
We all laughed. “Well, I hope my cooking class goes better than that,” I said.  
“OF COURSE IT WILL!” said Papyrus. “YOU HAVE CLASS WITH METTATON!”  
“Oh, of course,” I said glumly. “What was I thinking? Everything will be just peachy.”  
“OBVIOUSLY!”  
Just then, the bell rang. *RIIING!!* “All right, well, bye guys!”  
“See ya, punk!”  
“BYE-BYE!”  
“good luck, kid.”  
“Cooking with an Egomaniac,” I sighed to myself as I shuffled off toward the cooking classroom. “Just the right ingredient for a perfect day here at E.H.S.”  
I found classroom number L1 and pushed open the door. I was a little bit late, mostly because I was kinda dragging out getting to class.  
“Why, hello Frisk!” said the teacher kindly. He was wearing a green shirt and an apron with a heart and many strange stains on it. He carried a badly burnt frying pan, which he waved around while he talked. “Please, find a spot, and we’ll get started!”  
I looked around, but the only spot open was the one right next to Mettaton. “Brilliant.”  
I sat down on the stool and tried not to pay attention to Mettaton as the teacher started talking. “Welcome to Cooking!” he said with a friendly smile. “Now, I know most of you are new to the subject, so today’s recipe is going to be a simple one. Preheat your ovens, ladies and gentlemen, because we are going to make... a cake!”  
The class buzzed with excitement. Jerry spoke without raising his hand. “Can we eat the cake when we’re done?”  
The teacher laughed. “I’ll tell you what, Jerry. You make a cake that doesn’t collapse when you take it out of the pan, and you can eat it.”  
“All right!” whooped Jerry, punching a fist into the air.  
“Okay, everyone! Recipe cards are on your counters! Let’s make some great cakes!”  
“Okay, let’s get started!” I said to Mettaton. “What do we need first?”  
“Let’s see...” said Mettaton, reading from the recipe card. “We’ll need sugar, milk, and eggs!”  
“Okay!” I jumped up. “I’ll get the milk and eggs, you get the sugar!” I headed to the fridge. I grabbed a carton of eggs and a jug of milk and put them down on our counter. I sat back down on my stool and looked around on the counter for the sugar.  
“Um...did you get the sugar?” I asked Mettaton. No answer. He was leaning over our workstation and talking to Shyren. I had to poke him several times to get his attention. “Hey. Hey! HEY!”  
He finally turned around, exasperated. “What?” he snapped.  
“Did you get the sugar?”  
“No,” he said matter-of-factly.  
“...Well, aren’t you going to?”  
“No, that’s what you’re here for, darling! Go on! Scoot!” He pushed me roughly off my stool. I landed hard on my butt.  
“Ow!” I got up and rubbed my rear end. “What was that for?!?” Mettaton paid no attention.  
“grrrrftmzx....” I grumbled to myself as I found the sugar in a nearby cupboard. “Here.” I practically threw the bag on the counter.  
“Well! No need to be rude, darling!” said Mettaton with a dazzling smile. “What’s next on the list?”  
I swiped the card off the counter and read: “Mix all the ingredients into a bowl. Add raspberry flavoring-substitute.”  
“All right then! Get to it!”  
“B-But! You need to-”  
Mettaton buffed his nails on his shirt and examined them. “I’m sorry, did you say something, darling?”  
“Grr...” I growled. I poured all the ingredients into the bowl, seized the spoon and began to stir like Undyne on a bad day. Batter flew everywhere, including on my face and Mettaton’s shirt.  
“Hey!” Mettaton jumped off of his stool and started frantically wiping his shirt off. “What do you think you’re doing? Do you have any idea how much this shirt cost?”  
“Is there a problem here?” The teacher had surprised both of us. We both jumped slightly. Mettaton’s expression of rage vanished instantly and he flashed a charming smile.  
“Not at all, sir!” he said. “My partner and I are having a wonderful time, aren’t we, partner?”  
“Mm-hmm,” I said trough gritted teeth.  
“Splendid! I-” Suddenly, the teacher’s phone rang from inside his office. “Oh! Pardon me. I’m expecting an important call. Keep up the good work!”  
“Of course we will!” grinned Mettaton as the teacher disappeared into his office.  
As soon as the teacher left, I turned to Mettaton. “Hey, listen-”  
“No. You listen!” snarled Mettaton “I’m tired of you getting in my way all the time!” He snatched the bowl and spoon away from me. “Here! I’ll mix. You get the substitute!”  
“Fine!” I retorted and stalked away. Jerk.  
“I think it’s in that cupboard over there.” Mettaton pointed across the room. I tugged the door open. All that was in there was jars of random spices.  
“It’s not here!” I yelled.  
“Oops! My bad! It’s actually in that one!” snickered Mettaton. He pointed to another cupboard.  
I stormed over to that cupboard and jerked it open. All I found were a bunch of little boxes labeled “Sea Tea”.  
“Not there either? Try that one instead!” He pointed to yet another cupboard. I felt my face turning red. I yanked the handle and – bags of freeze-dried snails fell out in an avalanche on my head!  
“METTATON!!!”  
Mettaton tried in vain to suppress a smug smile. “Not there? Oh, well. Go ahead and look for it then, darling! I’ll supervise.”  
Alphys jumped up from her station, where her and Shyren’s cake was baking. “I-I’ll help? Y-yeah! I’ll help!” She scurried over to the nearest cupboard and started searching.  
“Mettaton, where is it?” I practically screamed.  
He shook his head coolly. “Not telling!”  
“Why not just go to the teacher?” asked Alphys.  
“I’m not about to be a tattletale. Besides, I think he’s still on the phone.”  
Alphys and I scrambled around the classroom, searching in cupboards and cabinets for the whole rest of the period. We asked Mettaton over and over where the heck he put it, but he refused to tell us anything.  
Eventually, the teacher stepped out of his office. “Time’s up, kids!” he announced. “How’d you do?” He walked around the classroom, examining each cake.  
“Very nice, Alphys and Shyren! Looking good, Catty and Temmie! Jerry and Woshua... Um... Nice... mountain of cake you have there...”  
“It’s not my fault!” cried Woshua. “I think Jerry’s cursed to be messy.”  
Suddenly the teacher stopped short at our station. “METTATON. Mettaton, Mettaton, Mettaton!”  
Sitting right in front of Mettaton was an enormous, gorgeous, delicious-looking cake.  
“This is pure perfection!” the teacher gushed. Mettaton smiled serenely.  
“Thank you!” he said. “However, I must say that I did most of the work. Frisk just ran around the classroom and opened random cupboards for the entire class.”  
The teacher raised an eyebrow. “Really?” He turned to me. “Is this true, Frisk?”  
“What! I – No! Well...” I sighed. “Technically yes...”  
The teacher shook his head. “I expect more of you, Frisk.” He pulled a little pink pad of paper from his apron pocket and wrote something on it. He tore off the top sheet and handed it to me. “Report to the detention room after school today. Mettaton, you get an A+ for such a wonderful cake!”  
“Grrrr......” I muttered, shoving the detention slip deep into my pocket.  
* * *  
I had been planning to spend the afternoon in the wishing room doing something fun. But nope. Thanks to Mr. Perfect Mettaton, I was stuck in the detention room for an hour, fuming.  
“Psst,” whispered Sans from across the aisle. “This is the first time I’ve seen you in here. What’re you in for?”  
“A cake,” I whispered back.  
“Huh?”  
“Mettaton made me search the entire cooking classroom all period for an ingredient for our cake, and when the teacher came out, he had a perfect cake!” I explained. “He told the teacher I didn’t do any work, so he sent me to detention. Mettaton must have baked the cake ahead of time, hidden the ingredient, and then pulled the cake out when the teacher came.”  
“Wow.”  
I sighed. “So yeah, that’s what I’m in for. How about you?”  
“A stick of chewing gum, a rubber duck, and ten gallons of ketchup.”  
“Say what?”  
“Yeah. It’s been a long day.”  
* * *  
At lunch the next day, I got another taco from Burgerpants, sat down at our lunch table, and waited for everyone to show up. First Papyrus, then Undyne, and then Napstablook decided to sit with us, too! But someone was missing.  
“Where’s Sans?” I asked Papyrus. “Is he waiting for us to let down our guard so he can scare us again?”  
Undyne stopped eating her lunch. “Yeah, where is Sans?”  
Napstablook pulled their head under their hood. “...um... i don’t know who sans is... ...sorry...” I patted them on the back.  
Papyrus glanced back and forth, as if to make sure no one was listening. Then he whispered to both of us. “DON’T TELL ANY TEACHERS… BUT HE’S GOT HIS HOT DOG STAND UP ON THE THIRD FLOOR.”  
I whispered back. “Cool! Maybe I’ll go see!”  
Undyne joined in. “Uhhhh... why are we whispering?”  
“Remember? It’s against school rules to sell stuff within school grounds unless the money goes to the school.”  
“Ohhhhh...” Undyne acted like she had known that the whole time.  
Papyrus stood up. “WELL, I’M GOING TO GO (AUDIBLE WINK) *CHILL* ON THE THIRD FLOOR!”  
I stood up too. “Me too!”  
Napstablook also stood up, because they seemed to want to tag along with me. “...me too?”  
Undyne stood up also. “And I’m gonna go see what Alphys is doing!”  
We all stared at her. “You threw off our groove!” I said indignantly.  
Undyne grinned. “I know! That’s why I went last!”  
I sighed and followed Papyrus, who had already started out the cafeteria doors. I heard Napstablook shuffling along behind me.  
When we got to the third floor, there was a clamor of kids surrounding Sans. He was leaning on a hot dog stand, the kind on wheels that you might find at the park. This one kid with flaming red hair was sitting in the corner clutching their hot dog and shouting “Toasty bun!” over and over.  
Papyrus pushed his way through the crowd. “EXCUSE US! EXCUSE US! WE HAVE SPECIAL FAMILY-AND-FRIENDS PRIVILEGES!”  
We waded over to the front of the “line” and went over to Sans. He turned toward us, but continued shoving hot dogs into the hands of anyone who had money without looking at them.  
He grinned at us. “hey, guys. wanna hot dog?”  
Papyrus said “SURE!” and took a hot dog. I noticed that Sans had pulled the hot dog out of his pocket instead of from the stand, but I kept quiet.  
As Papyrus bit into it, it exploded with a loud *BANG!*  
Papyrus screeched and the whole crowd fell silent.  
Sans was grinning like an idiot. “heh. the old balloon-in-a-bun trick. works every time.”  
Napstablook’s face was even whiter than it usually was. “...i have to go... this place is too stressful for me... sorry...”  
I waved as they staggered down the stairs.  
Papyrus was about to start yelling at Sans, but Sans gave him a little *tap* with his palm. Papyrus lost his balance and tipped backward. He was immediately swallowed up by the crowd.  
I stared at Sans in horror. “eh, don’t worry about it. i do that all the time. he always comes out fine.”  
I relaxed, or as much as I could while surrounded by dozens of screaming high schoolers.  
“anyway, let’s get back to business. wanna ‘dog?”  
“That depends,” I said. “Is it a balloon-in-a-bun or a hot dog?”  
Sans pulled a hot dog from the stand, not from his pocket. That convinced me that it was real. “All right Sans, let me try this hot dog.”  
“here,” he said. “it’s on the house.” He paused. I was about to grab the hot dog, but Sans went ahead and gave it to me. Onto my head. “wait a minute. it’s on you.”  
I laughed, and bit into the hot dog.  
*BANG!*  
* * *  
After school that afternoon (and after I had gotten all the bits of balloon out of my hair, which took a loooooong time), Alphys and I worked together in the lab on our science projects. I was working on setting up materials for my experiment and Alphys was concentrating very hard on building some sort of complicated model of...something. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. I was pretty sure Alphys was in the honors science class.  
“H-hey Frisk?” she asked after a while.  
“Yeah?”  
“Could you do me a favor?”  
“Sure! What do you need?”  
“Can you go to the supply closet downstairs and get me some duct tape?”  
“No problem.” I headed toward the door.  
“W-wait a second!” Alphys rummaged around in her pocket and came up with a small key. “The easiest way down there is by the service elevator. Here’s the key. T-technically, I’m not supposed to give it to anyone else but... this isn’t giving, right?” She winked and tossed me the key.  
“Oh, no. Totally not,” I said as I caught it. “It’s borrowing, not giving,” I replied, winking back. “I’ll be right back.” I put the key on the key chain on my cell phone.  
I walked down the hall in the direction of the service elevator, whistling as I went. It was really weird to be one of the only ones in school. I should really do that more often.  
I turned the corner, and there it was, the door to the service elevator. But it was blocked by two big guys in black T-shirts. I recognized them as members of the football team.  
“Sorry, but we’ve been drafted by the student council to make sure no student uses these elevators,” the one on the left said. “Ngah! Even if the elevator isn’t working anyway, we’ll do our best!” he continued.  
“Oh...” I said. I looked at the one on the right.  
“...what?”  
“Sorry, I... You know what, I’ll just go.”  
“Oh, and could you keep a lookout for a kid who’s wandering the halls after school hours? I think they’re around here somewhere.”  
“Um, yeah... okay. Sure...”  
I walked down the stairs and found the supply closet. I was pawing around in there looking for the tape, when my phone rang. I fished it out of my pocket, the key to the elevator jingling on my keychain.  
“Hello?” I said.  
“Hey, punk!” It was Undyne. “What’s up?”  
“Hi, Undyne! I’m still at school, I’m working on my science fair project,” I explained. “But I’m actually grabbing something for Alphys right now.”  
“Alphys? Heeeey, that reminds me! Why don’t we all go over to her house and watch anime?”  
“ANIME?” came Papyrus’ voice. “ISN’T THAT A KIND OF CARTOON FOR SMALL CHILDREN?”  
“Oh my GOD!!!” yelled Undyne. “Anime isn’t just for kids! It’s deep! It’s EMOTIONAL!!!”  
“IS –” Papyrus made a whining, crying sound, very much like a baby, “- AN EMOTION?”  
“YEah CAUSE It’S HoW I’M FEElinG RIGHT NOW!!!”  
I laughed. “Well, maybe we should do that, since you like anime that much, Undyne!”  
“WAIT...” said Papyrus. “UNDYNE, DO YOU LIKE ANIME?”  
Undyne was silent.  
“UH OH!!!” said Papyrus hurriedly. “I MEAN, I’VE NEVER ACTUALLY SEEN ANY. MAYBE I ACTUALLY DO LIKE ANIME!”  
“You don’t have to say that, Papyrus,” said Undyne calmly.  
“MAYBE I’M A BABY WHO LOVES CARTOONS FOR CHILDREN!”  
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO SAY THAT, PAPYRUS!!” said Undyne, a lot less calmly, as she hung up the phone.  
I took the tape, and decided to try the elevator to get back up. I inserted the key and tried the doors, but they wouldn’t open. I went back up the stairs and passed the two guys again.  
“Hey, wait a second!” said the first guy. I stopped.  
“01...did you notice?” whispered the second guy.  
“Notice...what?” 01 whispered back.  
“...They’re wandering the halls after school hours.”  
“...oh my god...02, you’re right!” 01 cleared his throat. “Um...sorry about this...but it looks like we’re gonna have to take you to Asgore. He’ll decide what to do.”  
“Asgore?” I gasped. “Why?”  
“Students aren’t allowed to just wander around school after the final bell rings.”  
“Then... why are YOU here?” I asked.  
“Because we’re...um...we...uh...” he turned to 02. “That’s a good point, bro. Why ARE we here?”  
“Because we’re actually just loitering because we have nothing better to do and we’re not actually allowed to be here,” replied 02.  
“AHHH!” yelled 01. “NO! Not in front of them!” he said, gesturing to me. “Ahhh... now they know!”  
“Well...” I said, partly to myself, trying to figure out a solution to this situation. “I mean, I don’t want you to get in trouble, but I don’t want to get in trouble either.”  
“What would even happen if anybody DID know?” asked 01 with a panicky look on his face.  
“I don’t really know... they might separate you guys.”  
“What???” 01 looked positively horrified. He looked at 02 with a pained expression. 02 still kept silent. “No!” he cried. “I don’t want that to happen!” 01 tried to turn his attention to me, but he kept glancing at 02 nervously and worriedly. I thought I saw something there...  
“Yeah, I don’t think I want that to happen either,” I said. “You two seem like you’re pretty good friends...”  
01 started sweating. “Y-you think so?” he stammered. “I mean...yeah, I guess...” 02 just nodded.  
That convinced me. I decided to take action. I edged over to 01 and whispered in his ear, “Hey...be honest with your feelings...okay?”  
“I...I...” said 01 anxiously. 02 let out a big sigh.  
The three of us stood there awkwardly for a little while. All of a sudden...  
“D-dude...” 01 said to 02. “I can’t...I can’t take this anymore! Not like this!!”  
He took a deep breath. “Like... 02! I like... I like, LIKE you, bro! The way you act...the way you talk...”  
“I love standing here with you, twiddling our thumbs, talking about nothing in particular...” continued 01 shakily. “02... I, like, want to stay like this forever.”  
“...” said 02.  
01 started sweating again. “Uh... I mean, uh...Psyche! Gotcha, bro!!! Haha!” He laughed nervously.  
“...01.”  
“Y-yeah, bro??”  
“...do you want to...get some ice cream...after this?”  
“Sure, dude! Haha!”  
01 and 02 looked at each other happily.  
“Well!” I said. “Now I know for sure that I don’t want to tell on you guys! I guess it’s up to you if you want to tell on me...”  
“No way!” said 01. “There’s no way we’ll tell on you! ...right 02?”  
“...nope.”  
“Thanks, guys!” I waved. “Well, bye! See you later!”  
“Bye!”  
“...bye.”  
I walked back to the lab with the duct tape. When I got there, Alphys was holding two pieces of her model together. “Oh, hi!” she said. “Wh-What took you so long? I’ve been holding these pieces here for a long time!”  
“Well, I basically played Cupid for two of the guys on the football team.”  
“...”  
“So yeah. That’s what took me so long.”


	15. Chapter 15

And finally, it was time. Yes, it was that dreaded day, Next Wednesday, otherwise known as the day I would have to be lab partners with Mettaton. I stood nervously in front of classroom number L2, the science lab, first thing in the morning.  
“Just the thing I need to start my day off right...” I muttered to myself as the bell rang and I pushed open the door. I took my seat and the teacher started talking.  
“All right, class,” she said. “We have a lot to do today, so let’s get started! Ok, everybody, grab your partner and go to your lab stations.”  
Everybody and their partner sat down on tall stools at their lab stations while the teacher started explaining the lab. My mind sort of glazed over at that point. I wasn’t really paying attention to her, because at that moment, the most popular guy in the whole school was sitting right next to me, just waiting for the perfect moment, for me to mess up, to humiliate me. My brain was psycho-analyzing every possible worst-case scenario that could result from this lab, but suddenly, something the teacher said caught my attention.  
“And remember, you have to add everything within two minutes of each other otherwise...it might explode.”  
Wait, what? I raised my hand to ask the teacher to repeat the instructions, but it was too late.  
“Ok! You may begin!”  
The teacher put on her earbuds and began to grade papers.  
I looked frantically at Mettaton for help. He leaned back nonchalantly. “Well, get going, darling! I don’t want a repeat of last time, so get moving! We’re burning daylight here!”  
I hadn’t heard a single snippet of the teacher’s instructions, but luckily she had given us written instructions on the lab benches. I knew better than to ask Mettaton to do anything, so I just tried to stay out of his way as much as possible while I quickly added all of the materials into the beaker and he texted on his phone.  
“Okay, all that’s left is water,” I announced. I reached for the water bottle standing on the lab table.  
All of a sudden, that annoying dog popped out of nowhere! He ran right up to Mettaton’s and my lab station, hopped up on the table, grabbed the water bottle in his mouth, and jumped down again! “Hey!” I shouted.  
I jumped off my stool and gave chase. “Get back here with that!” I chased that dog all over the classroom, but he was just too fast.  
“10 seconds!” called Mettaton.  
“Uh...I’ll help!” called Alphys suddenly. She jumped up and tried to herd the dog toward me. He was too quick for her, though. He dashed right through her legs. “Whoops... sorry...” she said.  
“S’okay, Alphys! I’ll handle this!” I finally managed to pounce on the dog and wrest the bottle from his mouth.  
“3 seconds!!!” yelled Mettaton. I desperately dashed over to the lab bench, unscrewing the cap on the water bottle as I went. I reached the bench, reached out to pour the water into the beaker but...  
*KA-BOOOOM!*  
The explosion covered our faces with soot and stood our hair up on end. Mettaton looked at me with complete and utter disgust.  
“Too bad, darling,” said Mettaton, shaking his head. “I thought you might actually be able to prove your worth this time. But all you’ve proven is that you are a complete idiot and a waste of my precious time.”  
I looked at the floor in shame. “...sorry...”  
* * *

In between classes, I stumbled across a sight that has rarely been witnessed by human eyes. Burgerpants. Out of the cafeteria. He had his back to me, and was facing a bulletin board in the hallway. “Hey!” I called to him.  
He turned around. “Oh, hey there, little buddy! How’d the lab go?”  
“I’d rather not talk about it,” I muttered.  
“I know exactly what you mean,” said Burgerpants with a solemn nod.  
“Well, anyway, whatcha doing?” I asked.  
“Oh, this?” Burgerpants was holding a stack of papers. “I’m just putting up flyers for the school talent show.”  
“Talent show?”  
“Yeah, talent show. Pretty much a big popularity stunt if you ask me. But it’s on Friday night if you want to go. They’re not taking any more entries, but I can tell you who’s in it.”  
I was curious. “Really? Anyone we know?”  
Burgerpants looked thoughtful as he recounted the names. “Well, I heard that Sans is in it, and Shyren...oh, and there’s Vulkin doing a cheer routine, Undyne doing karate, Aaron lifting weights, Woshua, uh, cleaning, and...” He paused. “I actually kinda forgot the rest, except there’s obviously a competitor that everyone saw coming...”  
I nodded knowingly. “Yep.”  
“I would have entered and done a monologue, but...” He sighed. “Didn’t want to embarrass myself, next to...him.”  
I nodded sympathetically. “I getcha, I getcha.”  
He tried to look excited. “So... I’ll be spending that night in a suit handing out programs and selling tickets!”  
I smiled at him. “Well, in that case, I’ll be sure to come!”  
He smiled back. “Cool. See ya there, little buddy.”  
I walked down the hall between classes and turned a corner. I came across a table with a red checked tablecloth and various baked goods on it. A girl with black pigtails was sitting behind it. “Hello dearie!” she said with a (slightly creepy) smile. “My name is Muffet! Care to buy some baked goods? All proceeds go to the school treasury!”  
I stopped walking. “Hm... well, what do you have?” I saw a thing on the table that looked like a powerful bracelet. “Oh, is this some kind of bracelet?” I asked.  
“What? Oh, no, dearie, that’s a croissant.”  
“Oh! Well, how much is it?” I asked.  
“Oh no, you can’t buy that, dearie! That’s for display only!”  
“Okay, well what can I buy?”  
“We have doughnuts and apple cider.” Muffet smiled.  
“Ooh, I love doughnuts! How much?” I looked at the price card and my eyes bugged out.  
“TWO HUNDRED BUCKS???” I cried. “No way! Nobody is going to pay $200 for a doughnut.”  
“Well we have to raise money for the school treasury somehow!” said Muffet indignantly. “Look, if I were you, dearie, I would want to support my school! This money will go to a good cause!”  
Muffet suddenly leaned forward and stared at me. She put on a thin, creepy smile. “You don’t want to be stingy, do you, dearie?”  
“Uh, no, I’m not stingy,” I said, taken aback. “I’m just not going to pay $200 for a doughnut. I don’t even have that much money!”  
Muffet slowly rose from her chair. She was taller than she looked. “Oh, so your taste is too refined for our pastries, is it?” she said icily.  
“N-no, I never said... wait, who’s ‘our’?”  
Muffet snapped her fingers. A whole horde of girls appeared from out of nowhere.  
“We’ll see what my friends think about that...”  
The girls surrounded me and started to close in. “Wait! No! Girls! Let’s talk about this! Ah!!! Help!” I cried. They were getting closer...  
“Wait...” said one of them suddenly. “Didn’t this kid buy something at the last bake sale?”  
Muffet turned her head sharply to look at the girl who had spoken. “What was that now?”  
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they bought from us last time.”  
“Is this true, dearie?” said Muffet, turning to me now.  
“Yes!” I shouted over the crowd of girls. “I bought some cider on the first day of school!”  
“Oh my goodness! I’m terribly sorry!” exclaimed Muffet. She hurried over and shooed the girls away. “A simple misunderstanding!” she smiled sweetly.  
“Uh, yeah... thanks,” I said, a bit breathless.  
“You are most certainly welcome! Thanks for supporting the cause! See you later, dearie!” Muffet gave a little wave.  
“Bye!” I waved back and hurried around the corner.  
I leaned against the wall. “Phew!” There was another guy standing there. He was staring at a doughnut in his hand with a mixture of disgust and fear.  
“I... I... I ended up buying a doughnut...” he said, “I... I... I didn’t want to, but that girl... even though I told her no, she... Kept staring at me in this creepy way and licking her lips. N... Now I’m outta cash.”  
“Eesh, sorry about that...” I said.   
* * *  
Burgerpants looked pretty sharp at the talent show. He wore a suit and tie instead of his usual apron and red T-shirt. When he saw me as I was waiting in the line for tickets, he ran over. “Hey there!” he said, handing me a program.  
“Hi!” I greeted. “So... how much to get in?”  
He leaned in close. “Normally, it’s five bucks, but...” He dropped his voice. “I gotcha covered, little buddy.” He handed me a ticket.  
“Wow! Thanks!”  
“No prob. Now get in there!”  
Burgerpants pushed me lightly towards the auditorium. I quietly went inside.  
The place was packed. I mean it. Stuffed full! Which, needless to say, did not help with the heat problem. I didn’t even know if I could make it five feet from the door, much less to an empty seat! I looked around in the futile hope that I could see an empty seat.  
“HEY! FRISK! OVER HERE!” I looked up at the back of the auditorium to see Papyrus, Alphys, and Napstablook sitting in a row, waving at me. I spotted an empty seat between Papyrus and Alphys.  
I waved back. Papyrus yelled back at me. “C’MON UP!”  
Alphys piped up. “Yeah! We saved you a seat!”  
Napstablook stared at the floor. “...i mean, there’s... no pressure or anything... you don’t have to...”  
“Yeah, sure I’ll come up!” I yelled back. I started to make my way over to them, but I wasn’t looking where I was going, and bumped into someone. They let out a squeal and fell flat on the floor.   
“Oh my gosh,” I said, “I’m so sorry! Are you alright?” I extended a hand to help them up.   
They looked up at me. “Eeeeh?” they squeaked in surprise, their face a vibrant shade of pink. “Y-Yeah,” they said finally. “No thanks to YOU.” They got up on their own and adjusted their pink cap.   
“I’m really sorry,” I said again. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”  
“Hmph!” they said. “Don’t get in my way next time.” They turned on their heel and began to walk away.   
“Are you leaving?” I asked worriedly.  
They scoffed. “Duh! Why would I hang around YOU?” Their voice suddenly caught in their throat. “I-It’s not like I like you or anything! I-Idiot!” With that, they hurried, skirt swirling, out of the room.  
“S-Sorry!” I called after them. I hoped they didn’t hate me.   
I cautiously made my way over to the empty seat, being careful not to bump into anyone else.   
I plopped down between Alphys and Papyrus.  
Papyrus smiled at me. “HI!”  
I smiled back. “Hello, Papyrus, Alphys. And Blooky, of course.”  
Alphys greeted me, Napstablook mumbled “...hello...”  
I gave Papyrus a look. “Let me guess. You’re here for Sans,” I pointed to Alphys, “You for Mettaton and Undyne, and...” I looked at Napstablook, who was staring at the floor. “...Never mind.”  
Looking for any opportunity to steer the subject away from Blooky and whatever their embarrassment was, I pointed to an empty seat next to Papyrus. “Hey, Papyrus, who’s that for?”  
“OH, UM, THAT’S FOR, UM, ANYONE WHO HAPPENS TO DROP IN!”  
I gave him a skeptical look. “Papyrus...”  
All of a sudden, a voice from behind me startled me. “heya.”  
I turned around in my seat... and Sans was sitting in the empty seat, reclining, and grinning at us like he wasn’t a stealthy weirdo who can appear anywhere he wants.  
Even though you’d think we would have gotten used to this by now, everyone yelped at Sans’ sudden appearance. Alphys looked at him. “Sans! Please stop doing that! What are you even doing here?”  
Sans shrugged. “uh...sitting with you guys? catching up? what answer do you want?”  
Papyrus glared at Sans sternly and tapped his watch. “SANS! I EXPECTED YOU TO DROP IN, BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS! YOU’RE ON IN TWO MINUTES! YOU SHOULD BE BACKSTAGE RIGHT NOW!”  
Sans leaned back and put his feet up on the seat in front of him. “relax, bro, i’ve got plenty of time.”  
Alphys checked her phone for the time. “No, you really don’t. You’re first up, so you’d better go back!”  
Sans raised up his hands in apology. “all right, all right. catch ya later, guys.”  
He didn’t move from his seat. I stared at him. “...What are you waiting for?”  
“for you all to blink...” I blinked, and he was gone. “at the exact same time.”  
Alphys looked startled, but I was used to that sort of thing by now. He’s Sans. “Wh-Where did he-”  
Papyrus shushed her. “SHH, SHH, IT’S STARTING!”  
The curtain was opening, and the chatter in the auditorium died down as the spotlight came on right above Sans, who was standing in front of a microphone.  
Alphys gestured toward Sans. “And there he is! Seriously, is no one else wondering about this?”  
Papyrus and I both shook our heads.  
Alphys sighed, then turned back toward the stage.  
Sans was telling jokes on the stage. A couple of the trombone kids in band who were sitting in the front row were heckling Sans jokingly. Sans laughed along with them, and then started a new round of jokes. “What is a skeleton’s favorite instrument?” he asked the audience. “...a trom-bone!” Everybody booed and laughed, and the band teacher, who apparently also taught dance and drama, told Sans his time was up. When Sans offered one last joke, a cane came out from backstage and pulled him out of sight.  
* * *  
“Thank you, Undyne! That was a...” The music teacher looked at the carnage on the stage, with wood splinters everywhere. “...forceful performance!”  
Undyne, wearing her karate uniform (with a red belt, I noticed), bowed, and left the stage.  
The music teacher asked “Could we send someone over to pick up the broken pieces of wood off the stage?”  
The other judge laughed. “No need! The next act is Woshua cleaning! I’d sure like to thank whoever set up this schedule!”  
Pretty soon, Woshua stepped out onto the stage, waved his broom with a flourish, and began sweeping and cleaning the stage of all of its wood and gunk, and removing several stains that had been there for years.  
Woshua finished vacuuming, and after a final rinse of the set with his power washing gear, he clanked off the stage.  
After scribbling on her clipboard, the music teacher waited for the last act to come on, who was Mettaton, obviously. “Okay, we’re ready!” she yelled toward backstage.  
The whole audience was silent for a few minutes, waiting with bated breath to see what flamboyant act Mettaton had for them.  
The music teacher coughed awkwardly. She poked the other judge. “Could someone go and tell him we’re ready-”  
FOOM! All of a sudden, the lights in the auditorium turned off except for the spotlight, which was on a light pink filter, and pink mist exploded all over the stage. Mettaton’s silhouette rose from the stage floor. He must have rigged up the old stage elevator to work again (probably with Alphys’ help) in an effort to make a dramatic entrance.  
Well, it worked. The crowd oohed and ahhed. Applause began to break out before Mettaton had even been shown in the light.  
The lights came on, and Mettaton was there, wearing a floor length, light blue ball gown.  
The audience stared at Mettaton in shock. A couple of freshmen started to giggle, but were quickly hushed by Bratty and Catty (and about a dozen others).  
Mettaton gave the audience a big grin.  
“Good evening, beauties and gentlebeauties! For tonight’s performance, I shall be performing an original song, and, afterward, a dance!”  
The mist dissipated, Mettaton drew in a breath, and then began to sing some kind of love song, maybe from an opera? It was some kind of star-crossed lovers thing, a monster and a human, and the human (or was it the monster?) had to go to a dungeon? Whatever. I’m not good at this opera stuff.  
When he finished singing, the audience cheered and clapped. Mettaton bowed.  
“Thank you, thank you, all of you! Now, it’s time for my dance! My partner is seated in the audience at the moment, so let me snag them real quick…”  
Mettaton scanned the crowd, looking for someone. To my complete and total shock, Mettaton pointed at me! “You! There you are!”  
I just sat there, not comprehending why Mettaton was pointing at me. Papyrus understood. He pushed me out of me seat and into the aisle. He seemed happy for me. “GO ON! GO UP! YOU’RE SO LUCKY!”  
I didn’t really have much choice, partly because it would seem weird if I didn’t come up, but mostly because I essentially started crowdsurfing as soon as Mettaton called my name. I was deposited right on the stage.  
Mettaton pulled me aside and whispered in my ear. “Dance only on the pink squares, unless you’ve stepped on a purple square, then you can dance on a blue square, but not if you’ve stepped on an orange square!”  
I looked at him confusedly. “Wait... What?”  
“Ready, darling? Let’s dance!”  
“Wait, I- AHHH!”  
Suddenly, the spotlight got covered with a multicolored filter and projected colored squares on the floor. Mettaton swooped me up into a really fast dance, and I began stumbling around, trying to keep up. Mettaton, on the other hand, was dancing perfectly, and he was going faster than seemed physically possible in that dress. This continued for a few, long, agonizing minutes, and then Mettaton gave me an evil smile. Before I could figure out what he meant, he swept his leg underneath my legs, and since I was already off balance from all the dancing, I toppled over at a weird angle. Onto my arm.  
Mettaton put his hand over his mouth and feigned surprise. “Oh no! Whatever shall I do! My partner has fallen down! Something has gone terribly wrong! We practiced that for so long, didn’t we, darling?”  
I took this moment to say something really intelligent, along the lines of “ow ow ow...”  
The music teacher started panicking. She sent someone to go get the nurse, and began coming up the stage to see if I was all right. Before she did, though, Mettaton looked down at me, winked, and carefully stepped on my fingers on his way backstage as the audience cheered and whistled.


	16. Chapter 16

Word got around that I was at the bottom of the pecking order after the disastrous experiences I'd had with Mettaton. Everyone I didn’t know well had stopped saying hi to me in the halls. Girls whispered behind their hands and boys nudged each other and pointed. I just tried to stay out of the popular kids’ ways as much as possible, just trying to keep myself off their radar. I was walking out of school a couple afternoons after the talent show, trying to keep my head down, when Sans caught up with me.  
“heya, kid.”  
“Hi, Sans,” I replied half-heartedly.  
“hey, if you're not doing anything tonight, d’you wanna go get some food?”  
I swear, that boy could read my mind. Sans always seemed to know when I needed cheering up. “Ok, sure!” I replied enthusiastically. “Sounds like fun!”  
“cool. why don’tcha come by my house around 6:30?”  
“Sure.”  
“cool. see you then,” said Sans, and walked calmly away without another word.  
I walked home with a little more spring in my step than there had been the last few days, looking forward to my outing. I tried to do my homework (not very successfully) until it was time to head over to Sans’ house. I hugged my mom, promised not to come home too late, and pulled my jacket on as I hopped down the porch steps. Five minutes later I was ringing Sans’ and Papyrus’ doorbell.  
“hey,” he said. “you ready to go?”  
I nodded. “Hey, where’s Papyrus?” I asked. “Would he want to come?”  
Sans shrugged. “he actually doesn't like going out to eat all that much. prefers to cook his own food. ...besides, I think I'd like it to be just the two of us tonight.”  
“Alright. Well, shall we get going?”  
“yep.” Sans turned around in the doorway and waved at Papyrus in the kitchen. “see ya, bro.”  
“BYE, SANS!” Papyrus waved back.  
I stuck my head into the house. Papyrus had oven mitts on and was holding a steaming hot quiche. “Hi, Papyrus!” I called. “Bye, Papyrus!”  
“HI, FRISK! BYE, FRISK!”  
I smiled, and Sans and I started walking down the sidewalk in the cool night air.  
“...So... is this... a date?” I asked Sans nervously.  
Sans shrugged. “eh, if you like,” he replied.  
“...”   
We kept walking. Eventually, we got to a fancy looking restaurant. The name consisted of the initials MTT.  
“welp, here we are,” said Sans. We went inside, got our table, and sat down. Two candles on the table flickered in the dim light of the restaurant.  
Neither of us said anything for a while.  
“so,” Sans finally said. “you’ve been here for a while now, huh?”  
“Yeah, I really like it,” I replied.  
“that’s great.” Sans paused uncertainly, and I wondered if I had said something wrong. “hey. let me tell you a story.”  
“Okay,” I said. “I like stories.”  
“so, you know how my house is right next to the school fence?” Sans began.  
“No, I didn’t.”  
“well it is. and that old fence is perfect for practicing knock-knock jokes.”  
“Oh, yeah, I bet.”  
“so, one day, i’m knocking ’em out, like usual. i knock on the fence and say ‘knock knock.’ and suddenly, from the other side, i hear a girl’s voice. ‘who is there?’”  
“so, naturally, i respond, ‘dishes’.”  
“’dishes who?’”  
“’dishes a very bad joke.’”  
“Oh, boo!” I cried, but couldn’t help chuckling.  
“yeah, it was pretty bad,” agreed Sans. “but she just howls in laughter. like it’s the best joke she’s heard in a hundred years. so I keep telling her jokes. and she keeps laughing. she’s the best audience I’ve ever had,” said Sans, laughing quietly to himself.  
“then, after a dozen of them, she knocks and says, ‘knock knock,’”  
“’who’s there?’”  
“’old lady.’”  
“’old lady who?’”  
“’oh! I did not know you could yodel!’”  
I snickered. “Wow,” I said.  
“wow is right,” Sans replied. “needless to say, this girl was extremely good. we kept telling each other jokes. for hours. eventually, i had to leave. papyrus gets a little cranky without his bedtime story.”  
I may have said this before, but Sans really does love his brother. Even though they annoy each other on a daily basis.  
“but she told me to come back again,” continued Sans. “so i did. then i did again. and again. it’s a thing now, telling bad jokes through fences. it rules.”  
“Yeah, I bet that’s great,” I smiled.  
“it sure is. one day, however, i noticed she wasn’t laughing very much. i asked her what was up. then she told me something strange.”  
“What?” I asked, intrigued.  
“’if a new student ever comes to the school, could you please, please promise me something? watch over them, and help them, will you not?’”  
“now, i hate making promises, and this girl, i don’t even know her name.” Sans continued. He shrugged. “but, someone who sincerely likes bad jokes has an integrity you can’t say no to. do you get what i’m saying?”  
“Sure, totally,” I nodded.  
“that promise i made to her... you know what would have happened if she hadn’t said anything?”  
I shook my head.  
“buddy...” All of a sudden, Sans’ pupils seemed to disappear, and he leaned forward slightly in his seat. “Y o u ’ d b e a l l a l o n e.”  
My mouth dropped open slightly, and I felt the blood drain from my face.  
Sans sat back in his seat and smiled. “hey, lighten up, bucko! i’m just joking with you.”  
“O-okay...” I said shakily.  
“besides… haven’t i done a great job? i mean, look at yourself. how many friends do you have now?”  
“A lot,” I replied.  
“well,” said Sans with a wink, “chalk it up to my great skills.”  
I giggled. “...heh,” said Sans, his eyes closed. He sighed a small sigh, pushed back his chair, and stood up. “well, that’s all,” he said. “let’s go home.”  
I decided not to mention that we hadn’t even eaten anything yet. I just stood up and walked with him through the restaurant. Sans held the door open for me and we started walking quietly home.  
When we reached the corner where our houses were in separate directions. Sans started heading in the direction of my house. “c’mon. i’ll walk you to your house.”  
“Oh, no, it’s okay,” I said. “You’ll have so far to walk. I’ll be fine.”  
“eh, don’t worry about me. i’ll take a shortcut.”  
I smiled, and Sans and I walked the rest of the way to my house in blissful, uninterrupted silence.  
We reached my porch, and I quietly turned my key in the lock, so as not to wake up anybody sleeping inside. “Well, thanks for the outing, Sans. I had a really nice time. See you soon,” I said, giving him a hug.  
“see ya, kid.”  
I had just opened the front door when Sans’ voice surprised me. “hey,” he said. I turned around, with my hand still on the doorknob. “take care of yourself, kid,” said Sans. “‘cause someone really cares about you.”   
I smiled at him. “Thanks, Sans.” I closed the door, locked it behind me, and went straight up to bed. I was tired, and I had a lot of thinking to do that night.  
* * *  
A few days later, I was walking down the hall, looking this way and that. I had never been down this hall before, and I was starting to get nervous that I was lost. I started sweating, both from nerves and from the heat in the hallway from the heater that still hadn’t been fixed.  
I decided I needed help. I pulled out my phone and dialed Alphys’ number.  
“H-Hello?” Alphys answered nervously.  
“Hi, Alphys!” I said. “I need your help.”  
“Y-you need m-my help?” she asked. “What for?”  
“I’m, uh... I’m kind of lost. Can you help me get to the cafeteria? I just passed...” I looked around. “Room 65. Could you tell me where to go?”  
“Oh, um, sure!” said Alphys. “Um... actually, the service elevator should be right around the corner and it will take you straight there... you still have that key?”  
“Yep!” I turned the corner, and lo and behold, there was the elevator. I inserted the key and pressed the button and...  
“Nothing’s happening,” I said to Alphys. “I don’t think the elevator’s working.”  
“What? It should be working... Well then! Go to the right and keep heading that way!”  
“Okay!” I turned to the right, but all that was there was the door to Room 66. “Um, that’s a dead end.”  
“I-It is? Okay, well, let’s try the left side!”  
I turned to the left and started heading up the hall.  
“Okay, you should be able to make it to some stairs through here...”  
Just then, I noticed someone lying across the hallway, with their eyes closed. I looked at them, puzzled. “Hey, I’ll call you right back, Alphys,” I said, and hung up the phone.  
I went over to the person on the floor. “Um, are you okay?” I asked tentatively.  
“Huh?” they said. They opened his eyes and saw me. “Oh!” They jumped to their feet. “I’m sorry!” They dusted themselves off. “I was just contemplating life. The world is super mysterious, y’know, and I just thought I’d think better lying down. I’m Final Froggit, by the way.” They extended his hand, and I shook it.  
“I’m Frisk. You... look kind of familiar.”  
“Nice to meet you, Frisk,” he replied. “I look a lot like my sibling. You might know them. Freshman, about yea high, confused expression?”  
“Oh, yeah, I know them!” I said. “Hey, can I help?”  
“With what?”  
“Contemplating life!”  
“Sure! What do you got?”  
I pulled a deck of cards out of my backpack and showed Final Froggit a card trick I had been working on.  
Final Froggit looked positively mystified when I was done. “Whoa... How did you... I can’t even... Huh? I definitely have more to learn from this world. Thanks a bunch!”  
“No problem!” I waved. “Good luck contemplating life!”  
I turned the corner and called Alphys again. “Okay, I’m back. Sorry about that. Now what?”  
“H-Hi!” said Alphys. “So, uh, where are you?”  
“I’m at an intersection. Should I go right or straight?”  
“Uh... Tr... Try heading to the right!”  
“Okay.”  
I took a few steps, but suddenly, Alphys said, “W-wait! No, I think you should h-head straight!”  
“Alright, then!” I turned swiftly on my heel and headed straight as she instructed.  
But all that was there was a wall with a bulletin board and someone flailing around, lunging and thrusting something imaginary in their hand. I sighed heavily. “It’s another dead end,” I said, getting slightly annoyed.  
“Oh, um... sorry... I...” said Alphys. We were so busy trying to figure out where to go next that I didn’t notice that the flailing person was getting dangerously close to me until they hit me in the shoulder.  
“Ouch!” I cried, and rubbed my shoulder.  
The person stopped flailing around. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! Are you all right?”  
“Yeah, I’m fine, but what were you doing?” I asked.  
“I was just practicing fencing. Ever since we learned about knights in History, I’ve loved everything about them. Their code of chivalry, sword fighting, horseback riding, their upper-middle class lifestyle, religious honor, everything!”  
“Wow, that’s cool!” I exclaimed. “Maybe I can be a knight too! Religious honor, huh? Well, I ‘pray’ that you won’t hit me anymore!”  
The person laughed. “Good one! I should probably get back to practicing, but I’m Whimsalot if you need anything, okay?”  
“Thanks! I’m Frisk! I’ll see you later!”  
I picked up the phone again. “Sorry about that,” I said to Alphys. Anyways, up is a dead end. I’m going to the right now.”  
“Sorry, I... I...” stammered Alphys. “I thought that... Yeah, let’s try the right.”  
I went to the right. “All right, I’ve got a four-way intersection. Which way should I go?”  
“OK! Y-you should... you should...” Alphys voice trailed off. “I don’t know? I... can’t picture it in my head...” Alphys paused. “I’m sorry... I... I...”  
“I have to go,” she finally said, and hung up the phone.  
Uh oh. I thought. No more guide. I started to wander the halls, too hot to think, with no clue of where I was going. I think I ended up going in a couple of circles. Eventually, I just picked a direction and started heading that way. I seemed to be making good progress until...  
A big person blocked the way, their hands on their hips.  
“Um... excuse me? Could you move, please?”  
“Not a chance, wimp!” the kid snarled. “I’m Astigmatism! Nobody tells me what to do!” They gave me a big push and I hit the floor.  
“OW!” I yelled. “You... you bully!”  
Astigmatism glared at me. “What did you just call me?”  
I gulped. “I... I called you a bully!”  
Astigmatism grinned. “Ooh, I like it! Do it again! Pick on me again!”  
“You... You’re a big, fat bully!” I said, confused.  
Astigmatism chuckled. “That’s right!” They smiled, showing lots of teeth, then brushed past me on their way down the hall.   
Eventually, after many twists and turns and dead ends, I finally found the stairs that took me to the cafeteria.  
There I found Papyrus, staring at the wall next to the door, rocking back and forth on his feet. “Hi, Papyrus!” I said. He turned around.  
“HELLO, FRISK!” he said.  
“Whatcha looking at?”  
He gestured to a poster on the wall for the school dance. “Cool!” I said. “Are you going?”  
“ABSOLUTELY!” said Papyrus. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEVER TURNS DOWN AN OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND A SOCIAL EVENT! ...ARE YOU GOING?”  
“Well...maybe...I dunno...” I said hesitantly.  
“YOU ‘DUNNO’?”  
“Yeah...”  
“YOU SHOULD TOTALLY GO!” exclaimed Papyrus. “IT’LL BE SO MUCH FUN! ALL OUR FRIENDS WILL BE THERE! HERE-” Papyrus waved at Alphys who was walking by. “HEY ALPHYS! C’MERE!”  
Alphys came over to where we were. “H-hey, Papyrus! What’s up?” Then she noticed me. “Oh my god, Frisk! You made it! I’m so glad you could find your way! I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you... I’m not very good at... stuff...”  
“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” I said, but I could tell she felt really bad.  
“OKAY... SO! ANYWAY! ALPHYS, YOU’RE GOING TO THE DANCE, RIGHT?” Papyrus asked her.  
“Well...maybe...I dunno...” said Alphys, shrugging.  
“BUT...THAT’S WHAT FRISK SAID! YOU’RE MAKING IT HARDER TO CONVINCE THEM TO GO!”  
Just then, Sans walked up. “sup, guys,” he said. “whatcha talking about?”  
“SANS, FRISK AND ALPHYS AREN’T SURE IF THEY’RE GOING TO THE DANCE!” Papyrus said.  
“oh, you guys should totally go,” Sans told Alphys and me.  
“Are you going to be there, Sans?” asked Alphys.  
“well, maybe, if i can pry myself away from my trombone practice... so yeah, i’m definitely going.”  
“Oh, cool!” said Alphys. “Well, I-” Alphys stopped short. She looked up and caught a glance of something behind Sans’ shoulder. She gasped. “Uh...” she said, red-faced. “Sorryguysgottagobye,” she said in a rush and took off running. *kapwing*  
“WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?” asked Papyrus.  
All of a sudden, we saw what had made Alphys so nervous. “Hey, guys!” said Undyne. “What’s going on?”  
“Hey Undyne!” I smiled. “We were just talking about the dance tomorrow. Hey, are you going?”  
“Uh, maybe, if...” Undyne glanced around the hall. “Hey, have you guys seen Alphys?”  
“oh, yeah,” said Sans with a mischevious grin. “she just left, actually. she went that way.” He pointed in the direction Alphys had left.  
“Thanks, dude!” said Undyne. “I’ll, uh, I’ll catch you guys later. Bye!” She left in a hurry.  
“OKAY, I OFFICIALLY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON,” said Papyrus.  
Sans changed the subject. “so, kid, how come you’re on the fence about the dance?”  
“Well, I’m really just nervous about Mettaton. I mean, he’s definitely going to be there.”  
“RIGHT,” Papyrus agreed.  
“Well, after the science project, cooking class, and the talent show, he thinks I’m a total idiot. I’ll get humiliated if I go,” I explained.  
“well, hey,” said Sans encouragingly, “we’ll all be there backing you up. and who knows, you might actually have some fun.”  
“C’MON, FRISK! EVERYONE WILL HAVE A LOT MORE FUN IF YOU’RE THERE, INCLUDING YOU!”  
“Well....all right,” I agreed, somewhat reluctantly.  
“YAY!” cheered Papyrus. “I CAN’T WAIT!”


	17. Chapter 17

Later that day, I was walking down the hall after the final bell on my way out the door after getting pummeled by the Dogs at poker. The game had taken longer than I expected, so it was kind of late to still be at school.  
Just then, my phone rang. I picked it up. “Hello?”  
“Hey…!” said the voice at the other end. “Uh, this is Undyne… I… wanted to talk to you after school but I couldn’t find you…” Her voice became muffled as she pulled the phone away from her face. “Shut up, Papyrus!” I heard her say. “This was YOUR idea!”  
“Hey, Undyne!” I said. “What’s up?”  
“FRISK! You have to deliver something for me!” she yelled. Then she managed to compose herself. “Uh, please?”  
“Okay, sure,” I said. “What is it?”  
“I’m at Snowdin in front of Papyrus’,” said Undyne, ignoring my question. “See ya, punk!”  
*Click…  
I laughed to myself and shoved my phone back in my pocket. I exited the school and got on the bus, reminding myself that I would be getting off at the Snowdin stop and not my own.  
I was looking out the window, daydreaming, when I heard the crackle of the bus intercom. “Tra la la…” the busdriverperson said. “Uh oh. Suddenly feeling tropical…”  
I hopped off the bus near Papyrus and Sans’ house. Sure enough, Undyne and Papyrus were standing in front of it. I hurried towards them.  
“Hey, guys!” I said.  
“HELLO, FRISK!” said Papyrus.  
“Hey, Frisk!” said Undyne. “Thanks for coming.” She smiled nervously. “Um, so, I have a favor to ask you.”  
“Sure, Undyne,” I said. “You said you wanted me to deliver something for you?”  
“Uuuuh, yeah, I… I need you to deliver this letter. To Alphys.”  
“I can do that,” I said. “But why didn’t you deliver it right after school today?”  
Undyne looked at the ground. “… um. W-well…” she stuttered. “I-it’s kind of personal, but we’re friends… so… I’ll t-tell you…” She cleared her throat.  
“The school’s still so fucking HOT! It SUUUUCKS!!! I don’t wanna stay there any longer than I have to!!!”  
I laughed. “Okay, I get it.”  
“Great!” said Undyne. “Here you go.” She handed me the letter, sealed in an envelope.  
“Oh,” she added. “and if you read it… I’ll KILL you,” she snarled.  
“Okay! Relax! I won’t read it!” I reassured her. “Do you know where she is?”  
“Well, she told me she’d be working on her science project at her house after school, so she should be there.”  
“Okay, see you later, Undyne!” I waved and headed off toward Alphys’ house.  
“DON’T READ IT!” Undyne growled. Then she flashed me her signature grin. “Thanks so much! You’re the best!!”  
When I reached her house, I went around to the back to reach the door of her room. I heard music and Japanese words from behind the door, so I was pretty sure Alphys was in there. I tried to open the door, but it was locked. I decided to just slide the letter underneath the door. I pushed it through the crack under the door and gave a knock.  
“Oh...a letter? For me?” I heard Alphys’ voice say from behind the door. “Um… I-it’s shut k-kind of strongly, isn’t it? Wait a second...”  
All of a sudden, I heard a chainsaw noise. I still honestly don’t know what Undyne used to seal that thing. Superglue? Epoxy? There was silence for a minute or so. I was just thinking I should probably leave, when Alphys opened the door. She had the letter in her hand and a confused expression on her face. “Hey,” she said. “If this is a joke, it’s…” She stopped short when she saw me standing at the door.  
“Oh My God???” she exclaimed. “Did YOU write this letter? It... It wasn’t signed, so I had no idea who could have...”  
I opened my mouth to respond but Alphys interrupted me. “Oh my god. Oh no.” She gave a nervous laugh. “I h-had no idea you, um wrote that way!” She was sweating a bit. “And s-so passionately too...”  
“Ah...” I said. I had no idea what was going on, and I was too confused to say anything.  
“Um...” Alphys seemed equally as nervous and awkward as myself.  
“...”  
“Y-you know what?” said Alphys abruptly. “S-sure! Let – Let’s do it! Let’s go to the dance together!”  
“Uh,” I said, a little confused. “Okay, sure! That sounds fun!” I didn’t really know what was going on, but I decided to just go along with it. I didn’t want to make Alphys any more uncomfortable than she already was, judging from her pink face. Besides, I liked Alphys. I would be glad to go to the dance with her.  
We stared at each other for a second, not sure what to say.  
“Um…” Alphys finally said. “Are you… uh, excited?”  
“Yeah!” I said. “I’ve always liked dances. I love dancing and listening to music!”  
“O-oh, yeah?” said Alphys. “What k-kind of music do you hope they’ll play?”  
“Hm, I guess I really just like rock ‘n’ roll.”  
Alphys’ eyes lit up. “H-Hey, Undyne loves that kind of music!” She smiled and her pink face turned even pinker. “Heh, she’s really… Uh…”  
Just then, she caught a glimpse of Undyne turning a corner up the street. She hadn’t noticed us yet, but she was heading right toward Alphys’ house.  
“Oh no. That’s her over there.” Something clicked in her brain and Alphys started to panic. “I c-can’t let her see me talking to you about the dance!”  
“Why not?” I asked.  
Her face turned bright red. “Because, uh… Well…” She gasped suddenly. “Oh no, here she comes!!” She turned and ducked back into her room, slamming the door behind her.  
“Hey!!” said Undyne. “There you are!!”  
“H-hi, Undyne!” I said, trying to keep it cool.  
“I, uh, realized,” she said, “if you deliver that thing… It might be a bad idea. So I’m gonna do it!!! Give it to me!!!”  
“Um...I actually...don’t have it,” I said.  
“Huh!? YOU WHAT???” Undyne yelled. “Ngggaaahhh!! Have you at least seen her!?”  
“Uh, no… I don’t think she’s home.” I felt bad for lying, but I didn’t want to give Alphys away.  
“No???” Undyne looked concerned. “But I definitely saw her leaving school... Where the heck could she be!?” Undyne hurried off without another word.  
After a few seconds, Alphys peeked cautiously out from behind the door. After seeing that Undyne was gone, she came all the way out. “Oh my god…” she said, still in shock. “W... well, I guess it’s obvious, huh?” She looked at the ground. “I... uh... I really like her.” Alphys looked up suddenly. “I mean, more than I like other people!”  
I nodded.  
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I j-just figured, y-you know... It’d be f-fun to… go to the dance with you just as pretend? T-to make you feel better?” She winced. “Well, it sounds even worse when I put it like that.”  
Her face fell. “I’m sorry. I messed up again. Undyne’s the person I… Um… really want to go to the dance with.”  
“It’s okay,” I reassured her. “It was just a misunderstanding.”  
“Thanks.” She smiled faintly. “But there’s... no chance of that ever happening. I mean, she’s way out of my league.” She looked up at me anxiously. “N-not that you aren’t, um, cool!”  
I laughed. “Trust me, Undyne’s way cooler than I am.”  
Alphys laughed quietly too. “Yeah…” she continued, looking down at the floor. “Sh-she is cool… she’s so confident... and strong... and funny...” Her face fell. “And I’m just a nobody. A fraud.”  
“No you’re not!” I piped up. “You have a lot to offer!”  
“Even if I did, I’ve told her so many lies she thinks I’m... She thinks I’m… She thinks I’m a lot cooler than I actually am.” Alphys fidgeted uncomfortably. “If she gets close to me she’ll... She’ll find out the truth about me.” She paused and looked at me anxiously. “What should I do?”  
“You should... tell her the truth,” I said.  
“The truth…? But if I tell her that, she’ll hate me. Isn’t it better this way?” she asked, smiling sadly at the ground. “To live a lie where both people are happy, or a truth where neither of us are?” Alphys’ gaze drifted. “They say ‘be yourself’... but I don’t really like who ‘myself’ is. I’d rather just be whatever makes people like me.” Alphys laughed softly. “Eheheh...”  
My face fell. “Alphys” I said slowly. “I like you the way you are. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not, not for me or for Undyne.”  
Alphys said nothing for a long moment. Then, finally she sighed. “...You’re right,” she said. “Every day I’m scared... Scared what will happen if people find out the truth on their own. They’ll all get hurt because of me...” Alphys suddenly looked panicked. “But how can I tell UNDYNE the tr... truth? I d-don’t have the confidence... I’m going to mess it up! How can I practice?”  
“Hmmm... how about we roleplay it?” I suggested.  
“R… roleplay?” asked Alphys. “…That actually sounds kind of fun! OK, which one of us will be Undyne?”  
“I’ll be Undyne.”  
Alphys laughed nervously. “Oh. Right. Obviously. Ehehe.”  
She cleared her throat. “H-hi Undyne…” she stuttered. “H-how are you doing today?”  
I gave her a big grin. “I’m fine!” I said. “How are you doing?”  
“Ha! Ha!” laughed Alphys. “Glad to hear it!! I’m, uh, fine too!” She paused for a moment. I could tell she really was trying really hard to figure out something to say.  
“Uhhh, so I’d like to, um, talk to you about something,” she said.  
“Sure, no problem, Alphys!” I said. “What is it?”  
“Umm, you see… I… I…” she bit her lip in uncertainty. “I… I h-haven’t been exactly truthful w-w-with you… Y… you see, I… I…”  
“Oh, forget it!” she finally blurted. “Undyne!!! I… I want to tell you how I feel! Y-you’re so brave, a-and s-strong… A-and nice…”  
I listened quietly as the words poured out of her. I didn’t often see this side of Alphys. I was glad she felt like she could let her guard down around me.  
“Y-you always listen t-to me when I talk about n-n-nerdy stuff…Y-you always d-d-do your best to m-make me f-f-feel special…” Alphys continued. “L-like t-telling me that y-you’ll b-beat up anyone that g-gets in my way…”  
“UNDYNE!!!” she cried abruptly. “I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANY LONGER!!! I’M MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU!!! HOLD ME, UNDYNE!! HOLD ME!!!”  
“WHAT did you just say?” came a voice from around the corner. It was Undyne. She had apparently heard the commotion and came back to investigate.  
Alphys jumped a foot in the air and her face turned bright red. “U…Undyne!” she yelped. “I… was… just… We were, uh… we were only romantically roleplaying as you!”  
“WHAT???” said Undyne incredulously.  
“I MEAN!” Alphys fumbled.  
Undyne turned to me. “Frisk, what the hell is she talking about?”  
“Um, I think I’d better let Alphys tell you that.” I told her. “I’ll leave you two alone...”  
“Good luck!” I whispered to Alphys as I left.  
“Thanks,” she whispered back. I walked a few feet out of sight and ducked behind a potted plant. I had a perfect view of what was going on. I saw Alphys take a deep, shaky breath.  
“W-what I mean is... Undyne... I… I’ve been lying to you!”  
“WHAT??? ABOUT WHAT???”  
“About... well... everything!” Alphys started talking really fast, and inching toward Undyne as she spoke. “I told you that seaweed was like... scientifically important... really, I just... I use it to make ice cream! And that time I told you I was busy with homework on the phone I... was just eating frozen yogurt in my pajamas! That time I...”  
“Alphys,” said Undyne calmly.  
“I... I just wanted to impress you!” said Alphys. “I just wanted you to think I was smart and cool. That I wasn’t some... nerdy loser...”  
“Alphys,” said Undyne, putting a hand on her head.  
“Undyne... I... I think you’re really neat, OK...”  
Undyne put her arms around Alphys. “Shhh... Shhhhhh.”  
Alphys looked up at her, her cheeks pink. Nobody said anything for a little while.  
Finally, Undyne stood up sharply, and looked at Alphys, her hands on her hips. “Alphys!” Alphys jumped. “I... think you’re neat too... I guess. But... you gotta realize...” she smiled. “Most of what you said doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care if you’re watching kid cartoons or reading history books. To me, all of that stuff is just NERDY CRAP!” Undyne gave Alphys a big grin. “What I like about you is you’re PASSIONATE! You’re ANALYTICAL!! It doesn’t matter what it is! YOU CARE ABOUT IT!! 100-PERCENT! AT MAXIMUM POWER!”  
Undyne calmed down a bit. “...So you don’t have to lie to me. I don’t want you to have to lie to anyone anymore. Alphys... I want to help you become happy with who you are!”  
“Undyne, I...” Alphys looked at her for a second, then gave her a big hug. Undyne laughed, and returned it.  
“So, uh, what’s your answer?” she asked.  
“M-My answer? T-to what?”  
“My letter! Duh!”  
Alphys looked confused. “W-Wait.” Her jaw dropped and she began to shake all over. “Y-YOU WROTE THAT LETTER???”  
“Uh, yeah???” said Undyne with a confused expression on her face. She looked up for a second in thought. “Oh wait…” She laughed. “Yeah, I guess I forgot to sign it, huh?” She looked at Alphys. “I’m guessing you got it?”  
“I-I did…” said Alphys, with a look of shock on her face and tears in her eyes. “A-and my answer is yes!!!”  
I couldn’t help pumping my fist triumphantly from behind the potted plant. “YES!” I whispered a little too loudly.  
Undyne started. “Huh? FRISK!”  
I had no choice but to emerge from behind the plant. “H-hi, guys...” I gave a timid little wave.  
“Normally I’d be really embarrassed right now...” Alphys said.  
“...”  
“But I’m too grateful to you!” Alphys exclaimed. “Thank you so much, Frisk! Without you, this never would have happened! Thank you!” she said, throwing her arms around me.  
I gave her a hug back. “No problem, Alphys! Glad to help out!”  
“Yeah, you did good, punk!” added Undyne, giving me a playful punch on the shoulder.  
“Ow!” I rubbed my shoulder. “Uh, thanks, Undyne! No biggie!”  
“Hey, wait a second, Frisk,” said Alphys. “D-Didn’t you know that Undyne wrote the letter?”  
“Uh, yeah…”  
“Why didn’t you tell me???”  
“Well, I mean, I didn’t know if she wanted it to be anonymous or not…” I said nervously.  
“What???” asked Undyne. “WHY WOULD I WRITE AN ANONYMOUS LETTER ASKING SOMEONE TO A FUCKING DANCE???”  
“I dunno…” I said meekly.  
Alphys laughed. “W-Well, it doesn’t matter!”  
“Yeah!” said Undyne, grinning and wrapping an arm around Alphys’ shoulders. “I got my girl, that’s all that matters!”  
“Eheheh…” laughed Alphys. I could practically see the little hearts floating around her head.  
“So, Frisk, did you ever decide if YOU’RE going to the dance?” she asked.  
“Oh, yeah,” I replied. “Papyrus and Sans convinced me to go.”  
“Alright!” cheered Undyne. “This is going to be SO FUN!”  
“Yeah...” I mumbled.  
“What’s wrong?” Alphys looked concerned.  
I sighed. “I’m just nervous about Mettaton. He really doesn’t like me, and I’m sure I’ll get humiliated.”  
“Oh, yeah, Mettaton...” Alphys nodded. “...Well, don’t worry! I’m sure everything will be fine!”  
“Yeah, you’ll be great!” said Undyne. “Personally, I can’t wait!”  
“All right, well, I gotta go now, so I’ll see you guys later!” I said.  
“Okay, bye, Frisk!” said Alphys.  
“See ya!” said Undyne.  
I had a lot to think about as I walked home. I was really glad that Alphys felt that she had friends to support her. And really happy for her and Undyne. Who knew, maybe I might actually have some fun at this dance. It sure seemed like everyone else was super excited. I decided...that I was pretty excited too! I’d get to hang out with all my friends, eat some food and just have a good time! I got home and started laying out the clothes I would wear the next evening.  
* * *  
The next evening, Dad’s car pulled up in front of the school. I hopped out in my white shirt, black pants, jacket, bow tie, and hair ribbon, waved to my dad, and headed up the walk to the front door. I entered the gym and saw everyone there, dancing, talking, sweating, and eating snacks. I scanned the room for familiar faces.  
“HI, FRISK!”  
Papyrus came over to me, dressed in a white shirt, red bow tie, suspenders, and saddle shoes. “Hi, Papyrus!” I greeted him. “Looking sharp!”  
“WHY THANK YOU! SAME TO YOU!”  
Just then, Sans walked up from the refreshment table. He was eating a cupcake. He had on a white shirt and blue tie, but he had his plain old blue hoodie on over it. “heya, kid,” he said. “glad you could make it.”  
“Hi, Sans.”  
Sans could almost read my thoughts. “hey, loosen up, bucko! nothing bad is going to happen.”  
“YEAH, I- “  
All of a sudden, the double doors to the gym burst open and two people were standing there. They were Undyne and Alphys, arm-in-arm. Undyne had on a fancy leather jacket, and Alphys had a polka-dotted dress and a flower in her hair. She was blushing, but both of them had huge smiles on their faces.  
“Hey, guys!” said Undyne, with her signature grin.  
“Hi!” said Alphys, giving a little wave.  
“WHOA!” said Papyrus in admiration. Undyne and Alphys walked into the room.  
“What’s everyone just standing around for?” asked Undyne. “Let’s dance!”  
I smiled and joined my friends on the dance floor. I stood there for a second, closing my eyes and letting the music flow through me. And then I started to dance. My friends and I moved to the music together. We danced on, song after song. Once, a slow song even played, and Papyrus and I pushed and shoved Undyne and Alphys together. That was fun. Eventually though, I did get tired. “Hey, guys, I’m gonna go take 5, ‘kay?”  
“SURE!” said Papyrus. I don’t think Undyne and Alphys even heard me. I sat down at a table near the refreshment table and took a breather.  
“hey.” Sans came up from behind and took a seat next to me. He had two cupcakes in his hands. He handed me one.  
“Thanks!” I said and took a lick of the frosting.  
“so, having fun yet?” he asked.  
“Actually...yeah!” I admitted. “Seriously, this is the most fun I’ve had in a while. I’m really glad I came.”  
“glad to hear it, bud.” Sans smiled, and we both leaned back in our chairs, ate our cupcakes, and watched our friends dance for a while.  
Eventually, I saw Alphys heading toward us. “Hey, guys!” she said. “Whatcha doing?” she asked me.  
“Uh, nothing at the moment,” I replied.  
“Well then, come back and dance!” she said. “Come on, let’s go!” She grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the dance floor.  
“All right, all right! Don’t yank my arm off!” I laughed. “See you later, Sans.”  
“have fun out there, kiddo,” said Sans, raising his cupcake to me.  
Alphys dragged me over, and I joined my friends once again in the pulsing, multicolored lights of the dance floor. Once, I looked up to the stage and noticed that Napstablook was the DJ! I waved to them, and they waved back.   
But then, all of a sudden...  
All the lights went out. Everyone went completely still. Then one light came on, a spotlight, shining directly on me.  
I looked around in confusion. Is this supposed to be happening? I thought. Then I saw people pointing at the stage. I turned toward it, squinting in the bright light. Two more spotlights were shining on one figure. I could make out a very distinctive silhouette, feet apart, arms spread.  
It was Mettaton. But it barely looked like him. He always dressed smartly, but here, he looked absolutely stunning. He wore a black leather jacket with dramatic shoulder pads that stuck out like spikes. He had a low-cut white shirt, a belt with a heart-shaped buckle, and knee-high pink boots with heels higher than I had ever seen before. I could only stare, agape.  
Mettaton looked right at me. “Oh yes,” he said. “There you are, darling.”  
“Um, hi… Mettaton...”  
“You think you’re so cool, little big-shot?”  
“Um, I, uh...”  
“You haven’t been here for very long, have you?” he asked. “What makes you think YOU’RE so special? Hate to break it to you, darling, but I rule this school. I think it’s high time I taught you who the REAL star is. It’s time to have our little showdown.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully and smirked. “Now, normally little show-offs like you get publically humiliated by MOI.”  
I began to sweat and breathe hard. The crowd around me was so intense I could barely think.  
“But since you’ve made it so far, I’ll give you a sporting chance. I won’t decide your fate...” Mettaton gestured to the huge crowd gathered in front of the stage. “THEY WILL!” The crowd roared.  
“Yes, new kid!” said Mettaton “It’s time to learn what makes a star! For you can’t be a star…” He swept his hand over the estatic audience. “Without fans!”  
“Let’s see if you’ve got what it takes!” Mettaton shouted. “Get up here and LET THE DANCE-OFF BEGIN!”  
I walked cautiously up the steps to the stage and stepped into the blinding spotlight.  
“Never played before, darling?” asked Mettaton.  
“Uh, no.”  
“Don’t worry! There’s only one rule! Your cheer has to match mine!”  
“That’s it?”  
“That’s it. Ready?”  
I put on my most confident face. “Let’s dance, Mettaton.”  
“LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!” yelled Mettaton.  
DJ Napstablook put a record on the turntable labeled “Death by Glamour” and the music started. Mettaton started dancing. And he was… incredible. I had never seen anyone dance like that. His moves seemed to defy gravity and his body moved in ways that seemed impossible. I began to get very nervous.  
Mettaton finished his final move and took a bow. The resulting cheer was positively massive.  
Mettaton turned to me with a toss of his head and a flip of his hair. “Your turn, darling!”  
“Okay, I can do this.” I put my feet apart and my head down and took a deep breath. “One, two, three, four!” I counted in my head. I busted out my best moves. Every ounce of my concentration went into not messing up. I glanced at the crowd, and I noticed everyone in the audience was completely dumbstruck. I kept dancing. The first people to start cheering and clapping were my friends.  
“WOO HOO!” screamed Undyne.  
“Yeah, Frisk!” shouted Alphys.  
“YOU ROCK, FRISK!” yelled Papyrus.  
“go, kid!” called Sans.  
I smiled a huge smile and kept on dancing. Gradually, the rest of the audience started cheering. It got louder and louder! I shot a glance at Mettaton. He seemed really surprised, but in a good way. My cheer got louder and louder. Mettaton smiled after a second, and then he joined in my dance! We danced together and finished as Mettaton grabbed my waist and dipped me dramatically. The cheers of the audience roared in my ears.  
I giggled as Mettaton swung me to my feet. “Well, darling, you won’t hear me say this often, but... I’m impressed!” he said. “I must say, you’ve definitely earned your place in the spotlight!”  
“Wow, thank you, Mettaton!” I grinned, out of breath.  
“No, thank YOU! You’ve been a great co-star!” I beamed. “And everyone!” continued Mettaton, turning to the audience and extending an arm. “Thank you! You’ve been a great audience!” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Give it up for Frisk!”  
The audience’s immense cheer filled my ears.  
“Take a bow, darling!”  
I bowed, waved to the audience, and walked gracefully off the stage. I immediately ran for the drinks table for some water, because dancing makes you hot enough without being in a 90 degree building!  
My friends clustered around me, and, after I had gulped down a full bottle of water, Papyrus held up his hand for a high-five. “THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!?!” he asked, agape.  
“I won the dance competition at my old school,” I said, high fiveing him.  
Sans fist-bumped me. “not bad, kiddo.”  
“You were awesome!” said Undyne, noogieing me.  
“I feel awesome!” I replied, fixing my hair ribbon from Undyne’s attack.  
“You should!” said Alphys.  
“HEY, HERE HE COMES!” said Papyrus. I turned and Mettaton was walking up behind me.  
“Well, darling,” he said, “That was truly spectacular.”  
“Wow, thanks!” I said.  
“I must apologize for treating you strangely earlier. I’ve been… well, quite a jerk. I actually think you’re pretty cool. You’re certainly lucky to have such great friends to support you. Might I have the pleasure of considering myself one of them?”  
I grinned. “Definitely.” We slapped our hands together in a high five.  
“Mettaton! Mettaton!” came some voices from behind him.  
“Oop! Gotta go! My fans need me! Catch you later, darling!”  
I waved as Mettaton disappeared into the crowd of his adoring groupies, and my friends and I danced the rest of the night away.


	18. Chapter 18

Everything went pretty much back to normal after that. I didn’t have to be terrified of the popular kids anymore, which was great. I would even get kids who high-fived me in the hall and said how awesome I was at the dance. Mettaton even said hi to me whenever he saw me in the halls, and I think it upped my popularity a bit. It was pretty cool.  
Cool in more ways than one, actually, because the day after the dance, during second period, we heard a *KA-CHUNK* and it began to get gloriously cool in the school for once! The heating had finally been fixed, and everyone cheered.  
* * *  
I was taking a walk at the park one chilly Sunday morning, when I found myself in a large clearing. A ring of cylindrical rocks surrounded a small rock in the middle. The rocks had a strange symbol carved onto them. The early morning sunlight streamed in golden shafts from the sky.  
It was a rather breathtaking sight, but I was surprised when I realized who was sitting on the rock in the middle.  
It was Sans.  
He was sitting cross-legged on the rock, facing to the right of me, staring off into space. I walked toward him. He didn’t acknowledge that I was there, even when I got right next to him, until I said “Hi, Sans.”  
He jumped a foot in the air with a shout, and fell off the rock. He fell face down on the wet grass and lay there.  
“Oh my gosh!” I yelped. “Are you alright?”  
Sans mumbled something I couldn’t hear, mostly because he hadn’t even made a move to get up, so his face was planted in the dirt.  
I pulled Sans up and dragged him over to lean against one of the tall rocks. He didn’t move for a while, just taking deep breaths.  
I squatted down in front of him and asked again. “You okay there, Sans?”  
“hff... hff... geez... you scared me, kid.”  
“No kidding.” I deadpanned.  
Sans was still gasping. “hff... hff... i thought i was alone... guess you would have to come up to me from the right side, huh?”  
I looked at him in confusion. “From the right side? What do you mean?”  
Sans shrugged. “alright. guess you do deserve to know, huh. well, here goes...” He paused. “i’m blind. in my right eye. i try not to let it get me down, but, as you just witnessed, it does cause problems for me sometimes.” He laughed. “heh. it’s a very good thing i’m left handed, otherwise my handwriting would be about as legible as temmie’s.”  
I felt so bad for him. “Sans, I...”  
“eh, it’s fine, kid,” Sans cut in. “there’s no need to feel bad when there’s nothing you can do about it. and besides, it does look pretty cool if you squint.”  
I lookd closely at Sans’ eyes to see what he was talking about. His left eye was a dark, normal color of blue, while the right eye, the blind one, was pale and glassed-over and a brilliant icy blue. I was sort of kicking myself at this point for not noticing this earlier.  
Sans got up. “welp. thanks for your concern, kid. now I gotta get back to contemplating life and nature,” he said with a wink as he sat back down on the rock.  
I stared at the scenery around me. “What is this place?” I asked Sans.  
“beats me. i think it’s some sort of forest shrine or something, but i just use it as a place to hang out, mainly because barely anyone else knows where this is.”  
“Well, it’s pretty darn beautiful, whatever it is!” I told Sans.  
“yeah, i guess it is.”  
I turned to leave. “Well, enjoy your, uh, meditation,” I told Sans.  
"hey, wait. hold on a sec,” Sans called me back. I stopped and turned back around.  
“What’s up?” I asked.  
“i wanna talk about something kinda serious,” said Sans.  
I gave him a skeptical glance as I came over to his rock.  
“i mean it,” said Sans, as he scooted over on the rock to make room for me. I sat on the rock and faced him.  
When I was seated, Sans began talking. “you’ve come a long way, kid. in just a few months here, you’ve made a bunch of friends, survived a school dance, and even helped some people.”  
He paused. I didn’t really know what to say, so I let him continue. “some people, in your place, would try... other methods to establish themselves. by bullying. or hiding. or just not even trying at all. ...but you. you never did any of that junk.”  
Sans shrugged. “‘course, that doesn’t mean you’re completely innocent or naïve. just that you kept a certain tenderness in your heart. no matter the struggles or hardships you faced... you strived to do the right thing. you refused to hurt anyone. even when people wanted to hurt you. even when you ran away, you did it with a smile. by doing what you felt was right... you’ve made all our hearts a little lighter.”  
He gave me a smile. “so... don’t lose sight of what’s important, alright? just keep doing what’s right. good luck, kid. we all believe in you.”  
I really didn’t know what to say. So I just put my arm around Sans and rested my head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Sans…”  
It was very peaceful, sitting there in the cool morning air. Eventually, though, I got up. I silently started to walk away, but Sans stopped me.  
“one more thing,” he said. “if you really are the kind of person who always does what’s right... then i guess i can trust you with this. here’s the key to my room. it’s time... you learned the truth.”  
I blinked, and Sans was gone. I looked at my phone’s keychain, and there was a new key attached to it.  
* * *  
After all that weird stuff happened, it was actually pretty nice to go back to school. After a morning filled with shenanigans, I bought a bag of chisps from the vending machine and sat down at the lunch table with Papyrus, Sans, and Undyne to eat some food. I didn’t bother asking Sans what the heck everything that happened on Sunday was about, because I knew he’d just make me even more confused.  
Alphys came and sat down next to me. “Hey, everybody!” she said, pulling out her lunchbox. She took out her sandwich and began eating.  
“Hey, Alphys! How’s it going?”  
“Great!” said Alphys with her mouth full. She swallowed. “Hey, y’know, Frisk, there’s someone I know who I think would really like you.”  
“Phrreally?” I asked, my mouth full of sandwich. “Who?”  
“His name’s Asgore. He’s our class president. I heard he’s been dying to meet you.”  
Oh, right. Asgore. I’d heard stuff about him throughout the year. I’d never met him before, but I’d heard that he was big, mean, and loved to pick on new kids. Alphys must have seen that I was worried, because she spoke up quickly.  
“Oh, d-don’t worry!” she said. “I know everyone says he’s scary and mean, but he’s actually a big softie on the inside! In fact, I bet if you just pop by his house and introduce yourself, he’ll sit you right down for a cup of tea and a chat!”  
“Oh, yeah!” Undyne piped up. “There’s nothing for you to worry about! He’s a great guy!”  
“I’m not sure...” I said uncertainly, but Alphys and Undyne didn’t seem to hear me.  
“I bet he’ll be home after school today, seeing as it’s Friday and everything, so you should totally go and visit him! I’m pretty sure his address is in the phone book.”  
“Well...” I bit my lip in thought.  
Alphys suddenly glanced at her watch. “Oops!” She quickly shoved her lunch back into her lunchbox and stood up. “Sorry, Frisk! I’m late for a meeting of the Anime Club! See you later!”  
“Okay, bye!” I waved as Alphys hurried out of the cafeteria.  
Back at home after school, I pulled out the massive phone book that my parents keep underneath the coffee table (my parents are old nerds) and flipped to the “D” page for Dreemurr.  
“Hm.”  
* * *  
Later that afternoon, I rang Asgore’s doorbell. *Ding-Dong!* No answer. I decided to try the gate to the back yard. It was blocked by two padlocks. There was a note attached. It said: “Howdy! I’m in the garden. If you have anything you need to get off your chest, please don’t hesitate to come. The keys are under the pot and on the table.”  
I found the keys underneath an overturned flowerpot and on a table by some chairs on the porch. I opened the padlocks and opened the gate. It was a MASSIVE garden, with tall hedges surrounding it. Golden flowers completely covered the ground. “Wow!” I said aloud. Then I noticed a boy with his back to me, right next to a wooden chair in the middle of all the golden flowers.  
“Oh?” he said. “Is someone there? Just a moment. I have almost finished watering these flowers.” He turned to the side, and I could see that he was holding a watering can. He watered the flowers in front of him. “There. Now, then.” He put the watering can on the ground and turned to face me. “Howdy! I-”  
He gasped and took a step back, knocking over the watering can. Then he just looked at me.  
“...I want so badly to say, ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ ...But, you know how it is,” Asgore said, shaking his head sadly. “I’ve heard… lots of things about you. Some… anonymous person has… told me all about you. They say you’ve been causing a lot of trouble at school, ever since you came here. Cheating on schoolwork, making threats, even FIGHTING with other students…” Asgore looked down at the floor. “I didn’t want it to be true, but…”  
He seemed to stiffen up. “Well... if none of the teachers are taking action... I... I suppose I have no choice...”  
“Wh-What? No!” I said abruptly. “This is all a big misunderstanding! N-None of those things ever happened! My friends will back me up if you don’t believe me! Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, Mettaton, Toriel...”  
Asgore’s determined expression faded, and he looked at me with a shocked expression. “T-Toriel?” he asked.  
“Yes, Toriel.”  
“You… You are friends with… Toriel?”  
“Yes.”  
“...Tori...” Asgore’s voice trailed off.  
“Why, what is it? Do you two know each other or-”  
“Oh why, oh why did I treat her so badly?” Asgore sank into his chair. “W-we... I… I didn’t…” And then he broke down sobbing.  
Let me clarify for a second. This big, tough-looking senior, who everyone had said was scary and mean, was bawling like a baby, right in front of this tiny sophomore. I was dumbstruck. I went slowly over to him and put an arm around his shoulders.  
“Is...is this something you feel really bad about?” I asked him nervously.  
Asgore sniffed. “Yes. It is.” Asgore laughed softly. “Ha ha... I’m being so emotional here with a person I barely know...”  
“It...” I swallowed. “It’s okay.” After a bit, I said, “You know what?”  
“What?”  
“I’ll take that cup of tea... if you want...”  
Asgore sat up in his chair. “Really?”  
“Really.”  
“Oh! That’s wonderful! I’ll go right in and make it!” He stood up and hurried excitedly into the house.  
I stood alone in the garden, surrounded by golden flowers. “Huh,” I said to myself. “Boy, you were right, Alphys. He really is a big softie.”  
I was so preoccupied by looking at the golden flowers and the blue sky that I didn’t notice that someone was standing behind me.  
I felt someone grab my neck and pin me to the fence. “Howdy!” he whispered in my ear. “It’s me… your best friend.”  
“F-Flowey?” I choked. “Wh-What are you-” He interrupted me.  
“You... You think you’re so awesome, making all your ‘friends’, being ‘kind’ and ‘thoughtful’. Well, that gets you NOWHERE! You still haven’t figured it out. In this world...” He gave me that creepy smile I was so tired of seeing. “I t ’ s k i l l o r B E k i l l e d. Starting in juuuuust a few days... I’m gonna make your life... a living hell!” He laughed evilly and disappeared.  
“GASP!” I could breathe again. Just then, Asgore came out of the house with a tray with two mugs on it.  
“I have the tea! I hope you like Golden Flower, because it’s the only kind I have!” He saw me looking quite rattled. “Are... are you all right?”  
“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. ...I’m fine.”  
“That’s good!” said Asgore as he handed me a mug of tea.  
“Thanks,” I said and took a sip. It was freezing... But other that it was pretty good.  
Asgore took his own mug and drank some tea. “I have to say, I’m very sorry for assuming all those things I heard about you were true. The person who told me must have been mistaken.”  
“Who was it who told you?” I asked.  
“They never actually told me their name,” Asgore explained. “And I never even saw them. They communicated with me exclusively through letters delivered to the student council. But I did notice that they signed all the letters ‘Your best friend’.”  
I gulped. I had a guess who that must have been.  
“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Asgore continued. “If… If Toriel can vouch for you, none of those things must have been true.”  
I smiled. “Thanks.”  
Asgore put his mug on the table. “Well! How do you like our school?”  
“I love it! All my classes are great, and all the teachers really seem to like me.”  
“Splendid! So-” All of a sudden, Asgore’s phone buzzed from his back pocket. *Ring... ring... “Oh!” he said in surprise. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this.” He pulled out his phone. “Howdy! ...Oh... Oh, yes, of course... Um, hang on a sec.” He put his hand over the receiver and turned to me.  
“Um, it’s Muffet,” he explained. “She’s on some sort of rant about how no one supports the school treasury, blah blah blah. She can go on for a very long while, so... Well, I don’t think you would want to hang around listening to one side of a rant.”  
“Oh...yeah,” I nodded. “Well, I guess I’ll be going.”  
“Come again soon!" Asgore smiled, then turned his attention to Muffet on the phone. “Yes, yes, Muffet, I completely agree...”  
On the walk home, Flowey and his threat was still on my mind. What could it mean? I kept asking myself over and over. Flowey had left me alone for such a long time. I had begun to think he had forgotten about me. Apparently not.  
The five blocks or so from my house to Asgore’s seemed like five miles, as I pondered every possibly meaning of what Flowey had said. Stress makes time go by so slowly...


	19. Chapter 19

I had actually almost forgotten about Flowey by the time I walked into school the next morning, which was the last day of school before Thanksgiving break. Alphys had called to ask how my visit with Asgore went, and I told her he seemed like a really nice guy, and I couldn’t wait to come back and see him again. I kept thinking about how nice it had been, but Flowey still crept in through the back of my thoughts. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little on edge in the morning.  
I opened the door and everyone started staring at me. I closed the door and turned around, but when I looked at anybody, they turned away.  
I walked through the hall nervously until I saw Papyrus. “Hey, Papyrus!”  
“OH! UH... HELLO, FRISK!”  
“Um... why is everybody looking at me funny?” I asked.  
Papyrus sighed. “WELL, I… UM… LOOK, I DON’T BELIEVE IT, BUT EVERYONE IS SAYING YOU TRASHED A LOT OF THE CLASSROOMS IN THE SCHOOL,” he said. “THE JANITORS AND WOSHUA WERE ABLE TO CLEAN IT ALL UP, BUT NONE OF THE TEACHERS CAN FIND ANYTHING ANYMORE. THEY’RE ALL REALLY MAD…”  
“What?” I cried, taken aback. “That’s insane! I-”  
All of a sudden, Sans rushed in.  
“*huff* hey... *puff* listen, kid, you gotta hide. i heard the vice principal talking, and he says he’s gonna find you and suspend you! seriously! i mean, ordinarily i’m a pretty funny guy, but this isn’t a joke, kid! get behind the potted plant!”  
“But-”  
“c’mon! hurry!” said Sans as he practically shoved me behind the plant.  
Just then, the vice principal strode into view, but I could see only his back from where I was hiding. He stopped walking and turned to Sans and Papyrus. “Hello boys,” he said. “You two are friends with Frisk, correct?”  
“YES, SIR.”  
“yes.”  
“Do you know where they are?”  
“NO, SIR.”  
“no.”  
“Oh. All right then. I’ll keep looking.” He kept walking down the hall.  
“...ok... ok, you can come out now,” Sans called. I cautiously stepped out from behind the plant. “whew. that was close, kid, real close.”  
“TOO CLOSE,” added Papyrus.  
Suddenly, a nearby door burst open. “Frisk!” yelled Undyne as she ran over to us. “Oh, thank god!” She stopped in front of me, put her hands on my shoulders, and looked me right in the eye. “Frisk. I’m going to ask you a question, and I want a straight answer. Did you actually trash the school?”  
“Of course not,” I replied.  
She took her hands off of me. “Good. I thought not. Just be real careful in your classes, punk.”  
“Don’t go to your classes at all,” said Alphys, following after Undyne. “A-All the teachers are REALLY mad at you. As soon as you walk in the door, your teachers will be looking for ways to get you in even more trouble when they hand you in to the vice principal at the end of the day.”  
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No, I am going to go.”  
Everyone looked shocked.  
“Look, it’s not like I’ll be able to avoid it forever, and if I skipped class, I’d be in even more trouble than I already am.”  
“I... I APPLAUD YOUR BRAVERY, FRISK!” said Papyrus.  
“ditto, kiddo,” agreed Sans.  
“Don’t worry, punk! We’re with you all the way!” grinned Undyne.  
“G-Good luck!” Alphys piped up.  
“I’ll need it...” I mumbled just as the first bell rang.  
* * *  
I took a deep breath and opened the door of the science lab just as the bell for class rang. The teacher was rummaging around in her desk. She looked up sharply when she saw me. “Look who’s here,” she said.  
“Uh... hi?” The toy knife in her lab coat pocket looked more menacing than usual, and she fiddled with it, which made me very nervous.  
“Hmph. You’re five seconds late. That’ll dock you twenty points for the day. Now sit down.”  
I scurried to my seat and sat down meekly. There was a note on my desk.  
“Hee hee hee...you really are an idiot. –Your best friend.”  
My head sunk down onto my desk. Help me…  
* * *  
After my free period and break was band. We had just sat down and unpacked our instruments when the music department teacher stood in front of the class. I noticed she had taken the ballet shoes down from the ceiling and was wearing them in class. They made her look very dangerous. “Okay, class, today I’m going to be testing you on your sight reading!”  
There was the general clamor that ensues when a teacher announces a pop quiz. “I’ll call you into my office one by one, and you’ll play a piece that I select. Now, don’t forget, tests are worth sixty percent of your grade, so do poorly now, and it will bring your grade down quite a bit.” She looked at me. “Frisk, how about you first?”  
“O-okay...” I gathered up my flute and followed her into her office. She closed the door behind me.  
“Now,” she said, sitting down behind her desk and giving me a stern look. “I hear you think you’re quite the hot shot. You certainly have shown off how much you think you can do recently. So I think such an exceptional person such as yourself deserves an exceptionally challenging piece to sight read! Don’t you?”  
I tried to keep from crying as I examined the music, which was harder than I had ever seen before. Help me…  
* * *

At lunch, I found my friends, and they all rushed at me.  
“FRISK!” said Papyrus. “ARE YOU DOING ALL RIGHT?”  
“Could be better,” I said honestly. “At least I only got in trouble with two teachers.” I sighed. “Man, am I glad to have a break.”  
“spoke too soon, bud…” said Sans as the cooking teacher came over to us.  
“Enjoying your lunch break, Frisk?” he asked.  
“Um... yeah.”  
“That’s good.” He smiled. “Because you need all the free time you can get while you still can. Because you don’t have much longer. As soon as school’s over, we’re going to haul you right into the vice principal’s office. It’ll be out of the frying pan and into the fire for you. I doubt you’ll have much time to spare after that, what with all the detentions and Saturday schools you’ll have eating up your time.”  
I couldn’t exactly say anything. The teacher flashed me a smile. “Have a nice day,” he said, waving his fingers at me as he walked casually away, “accidentally” knocking my lunch to the floor as he did so.  
All I could do was sit there. Papyrus put a hand on my shoulder. “I’M SO SORRY, FRISK…”  
Help me…  
* * *

After lunch at P.E., Papyrus, Sans, and I walked onto the field, one of them on either side of me. Just then, the P.E. teacher strode over. “Hey, Frisk,” he said. “Surprised you’re not afraid to show your face around here, after what you did to my office.”  
“But I-” I started, but he wouldn’t let me finish.  
“Don’t talk back to me! Now I want you to give me fifty pushups! Thirty for the incident, and twenty for this!” When I hesitated, he screamed at me again. “When I talk to you I expect you to jump! Make that sixty pushups! Now! Niiiiice and slow!” he commanded, punching a pink-gloved fist into the palm of his other hand.  
I had no choice but to drop to the ground and start the pushups. By thirty, I was exhausted, but I didn’t even want to know what the teacher would do to me if I stopped. Papyrus and Sans stood to the side, powerless.  
Help me…  
* * *  
Only one more class to go: English. It seemed to be at least a little normal at first. The teacher looked at me funny when I walked in the room, but that wasn’t so bad. We did our normal stuff, but when the bell rang and everyone started to leave, the teacher stopped us.  
“Hold on, everybody,” she held up her hands. “As a result of a certain person’s actions, you will all have to stay in class for another ten minutes.”  
A chorus of protests echoed in the room. “Now, don’t worry,” she said, calmly fingering her worn-out notebook. “You do have someone to blame for this. I am going to point fingers -” She pointed a finger directly at me. “-And I am going to name names. It was Frisk.”  
The whole class erupted in shouts. “Thanks a lot, Frisk!” “Really?” “Oh, come on!” “You idiot!” I slumped down in my seat and put my head on my desk. I wanted to disappear.  
Help me…  
* * *  
I had been halfway planning to just sneak out of the school when the English teacher finally let us go, but even when the ten minutes were up, she still kept me in. “They’ll be here in a moment,” she said icily.  
“Who?”  
Just then, all of the teachers appeared in the doorway: the science teacher, the P.E. teacher, the music department teacher and the cooking teacher.  
“Time to go, Frisk,” said the science teacher.  
I felt like a prisoner condemned to death, being escorted to the gallows. The English teacher opened the door marked “Vice Principal” and ushered me inside.  
The cooking teacher whispered in my ear. “Payback time.” The door creaked shut behind them.  
I sat on a small, uncomfortable chair in front of the massive desk. The vice principal folded his hands on his desk and looked at me sternly, saying nothing.  
I didn’t know if he was trying to intimidate me or what, but it worked. Especially with the antique gun mounted on the wall behind him.  
“It’s the end, Frisk.”

The vice principal kept me in his office for a very long time. He talked about how much damage I had supposedly done, how much hassle I had supposedly caused teachers and staff, how much money it would cost to repair said damage, an exceedingly long list of rules I had supposedly broken, and an even longer list of punishments that would be inflicted on me. I just sat there the whole time, too terrified to say a word.  
“And I will be calling your parents about this,” he said finally. “I’m sure they’ll have some choice words to say about this. You’re dismissed.”  
I slunk out of the vice principal’s office, head bowed. I passed the other teachers clustered by the door, who grinned, snickered, went in to the vice principal’s office, no doubt to celebrate their victory.  
I slowly walked out of the building, trying to come up with something to say to my parents when I got home. It may have been the start of Thanksgiving break, but I was anything but thankful. I had barely taken two steps out the door when...  
I felt a tight grip on my shoulders. “Golly!” a voice came from right next to my ear. “You’re looking awfully down in the dumps today, aren’tcha?”  
I squirmed under Flowey’s grasp. “Flowey-”  
“Don’t worry!” He continued cheerfully. “I know just the thing to cheer you up! That’s what best friends are for, right?” And with that, he grabbed my arm, dug his fingernails in to the point where I cried out in pain, and took off at top speed back through the front door and down the hall, dragging me painfully behind him.  
“Flowey- Flowey, stop!” I cried, but Flowey only giggled manically and ran even faster. I could barely keep my balance and my feet fumbled as Flowey pulled me along.  
I screamed as loud as I could as he raced me down the hall. Unfortunately, the school was deserted, and no one was around to hear me. We shot past the vice principal’s office and up one, two flights of stairs, me still shrieking at the top of my lungs. He pushed me in front of him and poked and prodded me up a rickety ladder and followed close behind. We finally emerged out of a trapdoor and onto the school room. Flowey slammed the door shut and shoved a large heavy box on top.

The school roof was packed full of junk. All that stuff that nobody seemed to want but nobody ever got rid of either just seemed to get tossed up here. The ground was littered with wrappers and papers.  
But, more than anything, the place was dusty. Dust layered thick and tall everywhere, on boxes, on the ground, on...a TV...  
The TV was the least weird thing in here. There was a bunch of cables, beanbag chairs, a laptop, weird vacuum tube like things, and loads of plants. Plants growing in pots on the boxes, plants growing around the TV, and I think I even saw a Venus flytrap on the laptop. The wind howled and shrieked in my ears.  
Flowey put on a fake sweet face. “So, what’s got you so blue, pal? What’s the matter?” His smile became more terrifying than sweet at this point. “Don’tcha like the HELL I made for you?”  
“So it was you.”  
Flowey giggled. “Hee hee hee. Of course it was me. Don’t you know anything?” He began fiddling with one of the vacuum tubes that was strewn on the ground.  
“I... don’t get it. How did you do it?”  
He smiled. “Oh, that was easy! When the janitor went in to clean a room, I followed him inside! I’m VERY slippery when I want to be,” Flowey giggled. “When the janitor left the room, I TRASHED it!”  
“You...you FRAMED me,” I accused.  
“Of course! You didn’t think that was an empty threat, right? Even YOU can’t possibly be that stupid!”  
I took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye. “...No.”  
He looked back at me. “...No?”  
He put the tube down, stood up and started walking slowly towards me. “...Ha...Ha...Ha. You thought you could win just by being NICE, huh? You’re HOPELESS. Hopeless and alone…”  
He grinned. “Golly, that’s right! Your WORTHLESS friends…can’t save you now!”  
Suddenly, Flowey jumped. He landed on me in a flying tackle and I fell to the ground. He pinned me down with a hand to the throat and held a fist in front of my face. “Call for help.” he challenged, his voice cool, low, and taunting. “I dare you. Cry into the darkness! See what good it does you!”  
“HELP!” I choked out as loudly as I possibly could. “HELP! SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP!”  
There was silence.  
“… But nobody came,” said Flowey slowly. He giggled and shook his head. “Boy! What a shame! Nobody else… is gonna get to see THIS!!!”  
Flowey tightened his grip on my neck with both his hands. I couldn’t breathe. It occurred to me that he could kill me. Flowey was STRANGLING me. Panic set in and I began to hyperventilate, which was not a good thing to do when you were being STRANGLED. Nevertheless, I kept shouting, “HELP ME! PLEASE! P-PAPYRUS! UNDYNE! SANS! ALPHYS! …T-TORIEL! HELP!” That was all I could take. I started seeing stars. And I mean actual stars, little glowy lights appearing just in the edge of my vision. The world started to dim.  
All of a sudden, loud thumps could be heard from underneath the trapdoor. They grew louder and louder, until suddenly, with one massive thump, the box skittered off the door. It burst open and out came all five teachers and the vice principal.  
“Wh-what?” I dimly heard Flowey stammer. “Wh-What’s going on?” I couldn’t feel anything anymore. Not the hands around my neck, not the wind in my face, nothing.  
The voice of the vice principal was muffled, I couldn’t pick out any words, though whether that was due to my panic-stricken mind or what, I couldn’t tell you.  
“Flowey! Let go of Frisk right now!” yelled the cooking teacher frantically. Flowey slowly got off of me and released my neck. Air. I gulped in air, the cold, fresh air almost painful as I sucked it into my lungs. I had never been so happy to breathe in my entire life.  
“We heard Frisk screaming as you dragged them down the hall, and when we realized they were in danger, we followed,” explained the music teacher to us.  
“We happened to overhear a VERY interesting conversation between you and Frisk as we tried to get the door open,” said the science teacher. She bent down to me on the floor, removed a bandage from her lab coat pocket, and placed it on a scrape I had gotten landing on the ground.  
“How much did you hear?” I asked, rubbing my neck and still breathing heavily.  
“Everything,” said the English teacher.  
“E-Everything?” cried Flowey. “N-No! You can’t do that! This can’t be happening!”  
“I’m afraid we CAN do that, and I’m afraid this IS happening, Flowey,” said the P.E. teacher.  
“Yes,” said the vice principal as he took out a notepad and a pencil, and began to make a list of Flowey’s transgressions. “Manipulating faculty...vandalism...having unauthorized electronics and...” He looked around the roof at the various piles of illegal stuff. “...OTHER things within school grounds... not to mention extremely violent physical bullying of a peer...Yes,” he said, nodding, “I believe we can connect you with a lot of things around here, Flowey.”  
“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” Flowey screamed.  
The vice principal turned to me. “I owe you an apology, Frisk. We all do.” The other teachers nodded and murmured assent. “Naturally, all punishments you received will be transferred to THIS fine fellow,” he said, indicating Flowey. “And I’ll be explaining the whole thing to your parents, so you have nothing to worry about anymore. We’re so sorry you had to go through all of this.”  
“Thank you.” I sighed with relief.  
The vice principal turned on his heel back toward the door to the ladder. “All right everyone, back inside! Emergency staff meeting! Main topic: This! Let’s go!”  
Everybody left the roof except for me, the P.E. teacher escorting Flowey. I remained on the roof for a minute, looking out at the view. Eventually, I headed down the ladder and down the hall.  
I walked slowly through the school, still trying to process everything that had happened. On my way, I passed by the detention room. I peeked in the window, and there sat Flowey. He was collapsed onto his desk, head buried in his arms, sobbing. I felt sorry for him, despite everything. I slowly opened the door and went over to him.  
“...Flowey.”  
He didn’t acknowledge my existence.  
I continued. “Maybe...Maybe if you had been a little bit nicer to people... it wouldn’t have ended this way.”  
He looked up. “Why?”  
“Why what?” I asked.  
“Why are you being...so NICE to me?”  
“Everyone deserves a second chance,” I answered simply.  
He buried his head in his hands. “I can’t understand.”  
I shrugged. “Neither can I, really.”  
We looked at each other for a long time. Then he just broke down. “I just can’t understand!” he yelled. He stood up roughly, knocking his chair to the floor. Pushing me aside, he bolted for the door of the detention room.  
“Hey!” yelled the P.E. teacher, who was serving as the detention moniter, but he was too late.  
Flowey ran away.  
* * *  
It had been a long and confusing day. I ate my dinner in silence. My mom asked me what was wrong, but I just mumbled something into my meatloaf. I tried to get some stuff done after dinner, but my brain was just too fuzzy and unfocused to really accomplish anything. I left all my stuff on the kitchen table and headed up to my room.  
Just then, my phone lit up and started vibrating. *Ring... Ring...*  
“heya,” said Sans’ voice from the other end. “...is anyone there? well, i’ll just leave a message.”  
“so... how’d it go?” Sans asked. “heh. i know you can’t answer, since you’re not there, so i guess we’ll all find out tomorrow, huh? i’ll just clue you in on things that are going on right now. so, uh, anyway, i-”  
Just then, Papyrus’ voice interrupted him.  
“SANS! WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO???”  
“oh, nobody,” replied Sans.  
“WHAT!? NOBODY!? CAN I TALK TO THEM TOO???”  
“here, knock yourself out,” said Sans. “i’ll put it on speaker.”  
“WAIT A SECOND...” Papyrus gasped. “I RECOGNIZE THIS NUMBER!!!” he exclaimed. He cleared his throat. “ATTENTION, FRISK! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... AM NOW CAPTAIN OF THE FOOTBALL TEAM! IT’S EVERYTHING I’VE EVER DREAMED OF!” he said delightedly. “EXCEPT, INSTEAD OF PLAYING GAMES, WE JUST PICK UP TRASH,” he said, less delightedly. “SO THAT’S EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.”  
“AND WE’RE ALL HANGING OUT AT ALPHYS’ HOUSE, DOING HOMEWORK AND STUFF,” he continued. “AND TORIEL DROPPED IN FOR A BIT TOO! SHE HEARD ALL ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE HERE, BUT YOU’RE NOT... SHE’S ON HER WAY OUT NOW…” Papyrus hesitated. “...ALPHYS AND UNDYNE ARE WORKING ON A SCIENCE PROJECT IN ANOTHER ROOM.” he continued. “I CAN HEAR THE EXPLOSIONS FROM HERE. BUT I THINK THEY LIKE HANGING OUT TOGETHER!” Suddenly, something seemed to surprise Papyrus. “UH OH!!!”  
“Hey!” came Undyne’s voice. “What are you up to, punk? Ngaaahhhh!”  
“PLEASE DON’T NOOGIE THE PHONE,” Papyrus scolded.  
“Hey! Who’s in charge here?” demanded Undyne.  
“ME.”  
“Oh... yeah, that’s right!” Undyne agreed. “Since the season’s over, the football team totally disbanded,” she said into the phone. “There’s, uh, only one member now.”  
“BUT HE’S EXTREMELY GOOD,” interjected Papyrus.  
“Yeah!! He is!!!” cheered Undyne. “C’mere!!”  
“PLEASE DON’T NOOGIE THE PAPYRUS,” he whimpered.  
“Anyways,” Undyne continued. “I’m helping Alphys with her science project! It’s gonna be so good, we’ll get an A DOUBLE PLUS!” She hesitated. “Um, is that a thing? I’ll have to check on that.”  
“Oh, yeah, and I’m the official teacher’s assistant for our P.E. class now!” she said excitedly. “Did you know I can bench-press three freshmen?? Small freshmen, but still. Awesome, right?!?”  
Undyne didn’t say anything for a while. Then she spoke again. “Hey. I’m sorry about what happened with Flowey. It’s not your fault he totally singled you out.” She let out a deep sigh. “Ah, darn it. I should have helped you out more.”  
Undyne didn’t say anything more, until another voice asked, “H-Hey, Undyne, are you okay...?” It was Alphys.  
“I’m fine,” said Undyne. “Why don’t you talk for a while?”  
“U... Uh, okay!” said Alphys shakily. “Man, she’s a tsundere.”  
Alphys faltered. “...Um, hi,” she finally said. “S-sorry, I hate talking on the phone. I don’t really know what to say.”  
“...Hey,” she finally said, “Why didn’t you tell me the student council vice president was so cute?” Alphys fumbled suddenly. “Uh, I mean, uh...” She was silent again. “Mettaton’s doing okay!” she added. “And! Um! I’m working on my science project! But I kinda have no idea what I’m doing anymore... I’ll figure it out eventually though.”  
Alphys was quiet again, and voices chattered in the background. “It’s cool having Toriel around,” she said. “She even checks on me from time to time to see if I’m actually doing anything. So that’s nice of her. She’s really boosted all of our moods!”  
“Oh! Hey! Wait a second! Did she leave yet?” She shouted, “Hey! TORIEL! Do you wanna talk to...?”  
There was silence on the other end. “Well, she says she needs to get home,” said Alphys after a bit.  
“Oh, she SAYS she needs to get home,” put in Undyne.  
“IF SHE KNEW WHO WE WERE TALKING TO...” started Papyrus.  
“we wouldn’t get the phone back for at least a few hours,” continued Sans.  
“WE HAVE THE MERCY TO SPARE YOU FROM HER!!” laughed Papyrus.  
“B-but, if you want to...” said Alphys, “call and talk to her anytime.”  
“Yeah! She’d be happy to hear from ya!” said Undyne.  
“oh, whoops,” said Sans. “this thing’s almost out of batteries. so, hate to cut this short, but... be seeing you, okay buddy?”  
“BYE-BYE FOR NOW!” Papyrus said.  
“See ya, punk!” added Undyne.  
“G-good... Good...” Alphys stammered. “Hey, why do I have to be the one to hang up?” she asked everyone else. “Eheheh... I hate goodbyes...”  
“Well, we’ll see you soon!” she finally managed.  
*Click...


	20. Chapter 20

It had been a rough break. I got my friends’ voicemail, and it cheered me up a little bit, but I still didn’t really feel like doing anything all break. I was thinking over exactly what had happened with Flowey on the roof. It was weird.  
In the middle of the night on the Sunday before school started again, I was awoken from a fitful sleep by my phone ringing, scaring the heck out of me. *Ring... Ring... “NGAH!” I shouted, and fell out of bed. I scrambled up, grabbed my phone, and jabbed at the screen in my sleepy confusion, eventually hitting the “Answer” button.  
“Hello?” I asked drowsily.  
“Howdy,” said a very familiar voice on the other end. “Is this the right number?”  
“I think so,” I replied. “What is it, Flowey?”  
“Look, I just called to ask... Why? Why were you so nice to me? Don’t you realize that being nice... just makes you get hurt?”  
I opened my mouth to maybe say something, but I couldn’t really think of anything.  
“Look at yourself,” Flowey continued. “You made all these great friends... and it didn’t really do anything. They couldn’t do anything to help you. Hurts, doesn’t it? If you had just gone through without caring about anyone, things wouldn’t be like this. So I don’t get it.” Flowey’s voice was filled with confusion. “If you did everything the right way, why did things still end up like this? ...Is life really that unfair?”  
I finally found my voice. “I really don’t know.”  
Neither of us said anything for a long while. “Say,” Flowey finally said. “What if I told you...I knew some way to make things better?”  
“Really?” I asked, a bit wary.  
“Mm-hm,” said Flowey. “Why don’t... you go see Alphys? It seems like you could have been better friends.”  
“Maybe I will,” I said.  
“Who knows... maybe she’s got the key to your happiness...?” said Flowey. “See you soon.”  
*Click...  
I stared at my phone for a couple seconds, then put it back on my bedside table and flopped back to bed. Another long night for me.  
* * *  
When break was over, and I went back to school, all the teachers and all my friends acted like nothing had happened. I mean, that was all right, but a full, public announcement about what had happened might have been better, especially because a lot of people were still giving me weird looks in the halls. It wasn’t all bad, though. In band, I was allowed to retake my test, and in PE, the teacher stopped me after my 5th pushup (out of 20) with a small wink. I was glad none of my friends mentioned it either, because I really just wanted to put it all behind me.  
After school, I wanted to just go to the Wishing Room and take a nap on a beanbag chair, but for some reason, I really felt like Flowey was trying to tell me something when he called me the other night, and I honestly didn’t have anything better to do, so I ended up trudging down the stairs to the science lab to see how Alphys was doing.  
I opened the door and went in. “Hey, Alphys, I-”  
I stopped. The lights were on, but there was no one there. “Alphys?” I looked around the room, and noticed something strange. The back door was open. It was never open. Ever. Alphys always closed and locked it behind her, and so did the janitor.  
I went out through the door, and ended up in the schoolyard. The gate was open, too. That was even weirder than the back door being open, because the gate was always closed unless someone was using it. And when it was closed, it was usually locked. I went through the gate, and closed it behind me.  
I was in a big backyard, with lots of trees and plants. A tall house dominated the yard. A door in the back wall was wide open. I peered inside.  
Judging by the anime posters, the science equipment, and the bookshelves full of manga, this was Alphys’ room. I was looking around the room for Alphys, but I couldn’t see her anywhere. What I did see, however, was a note on the floor.  
“Hey. Thanks for your help back there. You guys... Your support means a lot to me. But... As difficult as it is to say this... You guys alone cant make my problems magically go away. I want to be a better person. I don't want to be afraid anymore. And for that to happen I have to be able to face my own mistakes. I'm going to start doing that now. I want to be clear. This isn't anyone else's problem but mine. But... if you want to know ‘the truth.’ Enter the door in front of this note. You all at least deserve to know what I did.”  
I looked up. True enough, there was a door in front of me. It had a piece of poster paper taped to it that said “Alphys’ Secret Lab. <3”  
I opened the door and peered inside.  
All I saw were stairs that led down into sheer blackness.  
After fumbling around the inside wall for a light switch to no avail, I pulled out my cell phone and turned on the flashlight. As an afterthought, I pulled out my phone and texted Mom that I was going to be late coming home.  
I slowly descended the stairs. It was a long time before I touched the ground at the bottom. I waved my flashlight around the room. I have never really been afraid of the dark, but I don’t think anyone could go down into a pitch black basement with only a flashlight phone and not be a LITTLE nervous. “Alphys?” I called. “Why are you hanging out in a dark and creepy basement?”  
Hearing no answer, I continued to sweep the room with my flashlight until I spotted a cluster of tables in the corner.  
There was various junk and bits of paper strewn about the tables, along with a rack of syringes and empty vials, but what really caught my eye was a ring of colorful keys with a note attached. The note said “use these to unlock the drawer to your right.”  
I turned and saw the drawer. It was fixed inside the wall. I unlocked it with each key, one by one, until the drawer opened automatically with a click. Inside was a pile of papers. I unclipped the paper clip and began to read the scrawled writing on the papers.

ENTRY NUMBER ONE  
This is it. Time to do what I’ve dreamt of doing my whole life. I will create a new medicine.  
ENTRY NUMBER TWO  
I’ve been researching at Asgore’s place (his father has a MASSIVE science library) for ideas on what chemicals to use... And found some weird tapes. I don’t feel like Asgore’s watched them... I don’t think he should.  
ENTRY NUMBER THREE  
I’ve done it. Using chemicals I found in Asgore’s father’s books, me and a friend have created a substance that, in theory, should considerably speed up recovery from illnesses. Let's call it... “Determination.”  
ENTRY NUMBER FOUR  
I’ve been keeping mice for a while up in my room, and one of them has gotten sick. It doesn’t look good for him. But what happens if I inject “determination” into him?  
ENTRY NUMBER FIVE  
The results were incredible. Less than 24 hours after the first dose, the subject started to move about. A little later, he began to frisk and play with the others in his cage. I’m surprised at how well this medicine worked out.  
ENTRY NUMBER SIX  
I ran more tests on more animals, and the results were the same. Within 48 hours of injection, all subjects were perfectly healthy again. Now all I need is an opportunity to test on a human...  
ENTRY NUMBER SEVEN  
I’ve chosen a candidate. I overheard Snowdrake talking with his friends at lunch today, and he said his mother was sick. Badly. This is the perfect opportunity to test the “determination” on a real human being. I think I’ll take Snowy some medicine tonight! =)

ENTRY NUMBER EIGHT  
I did it. Snowy gladly accepted the medicine, and I even watched him give his mom the first dose. I would feel so much better about this if I hadn’t lied and said it was prescription medicine. Why did I do that? I’ve tested this stuff, I KNOW it works!  
ENTRY NUMBER 9  
things aren’t going so well. i talked to snowy, and he said that his mom isn’t doing too great. ...i’ve been holding out hope for 4 days now, and i’m getting anxious... what if it doesn’t work? what if... what if i’m found out?  
ENTRY NUMBER 10  
i’m so anxious, i’m just doing random things to take my mind off what’s happening. lately i’ve been growing flowers in my room, and cataloging how well they grow under different colors of light. it’s an experiment i did in 2nd grade, but whatever. i’m too unfocused to do anything else.  
ENTRY NUMBER 11  
now that mettaton’s gotten so popular, he never talks to me anymore. ...except to ask when i’m going to finish fixing the trapdoor under the stage. but i’m afraid if i fix it, he won’t need me anymore... then we’ll never be friends ever again.  
ENTRY NUMBER 12  
i still haven’t heard anything from snowy. i don’t know what to do. i just hope snowy keeps giving his mom “determination.” i want this to work.  
ENTRY NUMBER 13  
snowy says his mom’s doing better.  
ENTRY NUMBER 14  
I talked to Snowy while his dad was performing at Mettaton’s dad’s restaurant, and he said his mom has gotten better. He said she’s working from home and making food for them like nothing happened... I thought it wasn’t working...?  
ENTRY NUMBER 15  
Seems like this research was a success! It seems like the medicine takes longer to take effect on humans. I’m glad there was a happy ending. I stopped work on the flowers (it was a boring project anyway, and the seeds are SUPER clingy), and I took back the rest of the “determination” from Snowy. I’ll begin making more tomorrow.  
ENTRY NUMBER 16  
no No NO NO NO NO  
ENTRY NUMBER 18  
snowy keeps calling me to ask what was in that medicine. what am i supposed to say? i don’t even answer the phone anymore.  
ENTRY NUMBER 19  
i’m so lost. i don’t know what to do, i don’t know how to fix this, i don’t even know if i CAN fix this... god, i’m so lost...  
ENTRY NUMBER 20  
ASGORE left me a message today. about this cute teacup he found that reminds him of me. thanks asgore.  
ENTRY NUMBER 21  
i spend all my time at the garbage dump now. it’s my element.  
As I finished reading the last page, I heard a noise behind me. I turned to see, and I saw Alphys standing behind me. She jumped when I turned.  
“Oh! uh... h-hi.”  
I was a bit worried that Alphys would be mad at me for looking through her papers. “Alphys! I-I’m sorry, I-”  
Alphys stared at the floor. “It’s fine. I needed someone to know what I did. And from my experiences with you, Frisk... I knew that I could trust you.  
I felt really bad for her. “Oh, Alphys...” Then I asked, in a small voice “And... what happened to...”  
Alphys cut in. “To Snowy’s mom... Yeah... she ended up… relapsing. Real bad. She got better, though... eventually. It took way longer than it should have. And I heard that she still gets lightheaded every now and then. It’s all my fault.”  
“...Okay. Okay, I just have one more question.”  
“What is it?”  
“Where’s Entry Number 17?”  
Alphys started sweating. “Oh, um... I lost that one.”  
I believed her. “What are you going to do now?” I asked.  
Alphys stopped sweating. “W-Well, I had kept it secret all this time. When I heard what happened, I knew I couldn’t tell Snowy what really happened. I couldn’t tell anyone what really happened. No matter how much anyone was asking me. And I was too afraid to do anything about it... Knowing that everything I had done so far had been such a horrific failure. I thought that I would just make everything WORSE by trying to fix it. ... but now. Now, I’ve changed my mind about all this. I’m going to tell everyone what I’ve done. It’s going to be hard. Being honest... Believing in myself... I’m sure there will be times when I’ll struggle. I’m sure there will be times when I’ll screw up again. But knowing, deep down, that I have friends to fall back on... I know it’ll be a lot easier to stand on my own. And... I just have one request.”  
“What is it, Alphys?” I asked softly.  
“If I come crawling back to hide again...” She paused. “DON’T let me. Please... MAKE me finish what I’ve started.”  
I gave her a small smile. “Okay. I will.”  
Alphys smiled weakly. “Great.” She turned, and walked back up the stairs. I heard her quietly say “No more running away.”  
I was about to follow her up into her room, when she paused in the doorway. “Oh, and... Thank you.”


	21. Chapter 21

The following days and weeks passed pretty normally. I didn’t hear about what happened with Alphys, but judging by her and Snowdrake’s mood a few days after, everything seemed to work out all right. And before anybody knew it, it was time for winter break! The final bell rang and everybody exploded out of the building, but I walked slowly down the front walk with a frown on my face.  
Just then, Sans fell into step beside me. “heya, bud. why so glum?”  
“Oh, it’s nothing, it’s just... both of my parents have to work on Christmas Eve. They tried and tried to get out of it, but it just didn’t work out.”  
“oh, wow. sorry ’bout that, kiddo.”  
“It’s fine,” I said, looking at the ground.  
Suddenly, Sans tilted his head to the side. “hey, y’know...”  
“What?”  
“nothing... nope, absolutely nothing,” said Sans, unconvincingly. “well... at least you have the rest of winter break to spend time with them, right?”  
“Yeah, I guess so.”  
“cool. well, I’ll, uh, i’ll see ya around, kid,” said Sans, and took off running.  
Had I been less absorbed in my own thoughts I would have realized that something was off. Sans never, ever, ever runs. Not even in PE class when Undyne is screaming at him. Never.  
But, because I was completely oblivious to the abnormality of the situation, I shoved my hands in my pockets and continued home.  
* * *  
It was Christmas Eve, and I was trying to enjoy myself with a mug of hot chocolate in front of the fireplace, but it wasn’t working all that well. Suddenly, my phone buzzed. Twice.  
“2 new texts from CoolSkeleton95.”   
“HELLO! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM INVITING YOU OVER TO HANG OUT!”  
“(PLEASE?)”  
“sorry papyrus, i wanna have some alone time tonight. maybe next time?”  
“OH! OH... ALL RIGHT THEN. HAVE FUN!”  
“1 new text from StrongFish91.”  
“Hey, punk! Me and Papyrus are hanging out at his house tonight, wanna join us?”  
“sorry undyne, i kinda wanna be by myself tonight. rain check?”  
“...Fine then!”  
“1 new text from =^.^=ALPHYS=^.^=”  
“hi, frisk! do u wanna hang out @ papyrus and sans’ house w/us? i think it’ll be fun!”  
“no thanks, alphys, i just want to be alone. maybe next time though.”  
“o, sure. i understand. cul8r!”  
“1 new text from coolskeleton95sbrother.”  
“heya, kid, i was wondering, do you wanna come over and hang out at our house?”   
“??? why does everyone keep asking me that? something must be up, i’ll be right over.”  
I threw on my jacket and hurried over to Papyrus and Sans’ house.  
When I got there, all of the lights were off. I knocked cautiously on the door, which creaked open. “...Guys? ...Hello? ...Anybody home?”  
All of a sudden, the lights came on and everybody jumped out from behind couches and other furniture.  
“SURPRISE!” they shouted.  
I pretended to keel over dramatically with shock.  
“OH MY GOD!” cried Papyrus, and he ran over to me. “FRISK! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? ARE YOU HURT?”  
I sat up and started giggling. “You guys are crazy, you know that?”  
“Wait...” I said, standing back up. “Is everyone here? What’s going on?”  
“A SURPRISE CHRISTMAS PARTY, OF COURSE!” said Papyrus.  
“And this is all... for me?”  
“yeah, well, when I heard that you were gonna be all by your lonesome on christmas eve, well, that would be no fun, would it?” said Sans.  
“SO SANS AND I DECIDED TO GATHER EVERYBODY UP TO HAVE A BIG CHRISTMAS PARTY!” said Papyrus.  
“and also to scare the living crud out of you,” added Sans.  
“That was the only reason I came,” said Undyne. I looked at her. “Kidding!” she grinned. “I couldn’t miss a cool Christmas party, especially if Alphys was gonna be there!”  
“R-Really?” said Alphys. “Uh, I mean, uh... Thanks, Undyne!”  
“WELL NOW!” said Papyrus, clapping his hands together. “WE’VE GOT SNACKS, PIZZA ON THE WAY, TV, MOVIES, YOU NAME IT! ONLY CONDITION IS, OUR PARENTS ARE BUSY COOKING FOR TOMORROW IN THE KITCHEN, SO WE CAN’T GO IN THERE.”  
Everybody stood awkwardly in silence for a few seconds.  
“Well, what’s everyone just standing around for?” Undyne shouted. “Let’s do it!”  
“Alright!” I said.  
“I WILL GO GET SOME SNACKS!” said Papyrus.  
“Hey, let’s pick a movie to watch!” said Alphys.  
“Right there with ya!” said Undyne, and the two of them disappeared into the den. Sans just flopped back onto the couch with a contented smile.  
I sat down next to him. “Sans...” I said. “...Thanks.”  
Sans gave me a wink. “no sweat, kid.”  
Papyrus appeared from the kitchen, his arms loaded with bowls of potato chips, pretzels, and candy.  
“BEHOLD!” he exclaimed, unloading onto the coffee table. “SNACKS!”  
Sans had just plunged his hand into the potato chip bowl when there came a knock at the door.  
“OH GOOD! THAT’LL BE THE PIZZA!” He ran to the door, gave the delivery guy a tip, and was about to come back inside with the pizza, when he looked back out the door. “HEY, WHO IS THAT?” he asked. I hurried to the door and took a look. It was Napstablook, just meandering down the other side of the street. They were wearing a scarf that completely covered their face so that only their eyes peeked out from underneath their sweatshirt hood.  
“Hey, it’s Napstablook!” I said. “Hey! Blooky!” I called. They turned and saw me in the doorway. They gave a little wave. I beckoned to them. “C’mon over!” They hesitantly crossed the street and approached.  
“...hi...” they said. Their voice was muffled because of the scarf.  
“Hey, Blooky! Good to see you! Do you want to join our Christmas party?” I asked.  
“oh... um... i wouldn’t want to cause... any trouble...” they said.  
“Oh, you won’t be!” I reassured them. “We’ve got plenty of pizza and snacks to go around! It’ll be fun!”  
“...okay... sure...”  
“Awesome!” I said.  
The three of us went back into the living room, Papyrus carrying the four boxes of pizza, one of which he opened with a flourish. “TA DA!” Blooky tugged off their scarf and took a single slice, Papyrus snagged three, I grabbed two, and Sans got five. By now, the first pizza was almost gone. “Where’re Undyne and Alphys?” I asked. “At this rate, these pizzas won’t last an hour!”  
“i think they’re still in the den,” said Sans, putting half a slice of pizza in his mouth at once. Just then, they burst out of the den.  
“I thought I smelled pizza!” yelled Undyne. “Give!” She grabbed the entire box. Alphys stared sadly at where the box had been.  
“AH, NOT TO FEAR, ALPHYS!” Papyrus produced the next pizza box and set it down on the coffee table. Alphys lifted the lid.  
“P-plain cheese!” she exclaimed. “Thanks, Papyrus, that’s my favorite!” She took two slices and sat down on the couch. “Hey, wh-what’s this?” Alphys opened the cupboard underneath the living room TV.  
“AHA! YOU SEEM TO HAVE STUMBLED ACROSS OUR VIDEO GAME COLLECTION!” said Papyrus.  
Sans, Undyne, Alphys, and I all looked at each other. We were all thinking the same thing...  
* * *  
“HEY, SANS!”  
Sans had been beating me, Alphys and Undyne in the video game battle, but he looked up when Papyrus spoke to him. “Sup, bro?”  
“WHAT TIME IS IT?”  
“uhh...” said Sans, looking at his watch. (He was still completely demolishing all of us, by the way. Without even looking at the screen.) “7:17.”  
“WRONG! IT’S PRESENT TIME!”  
“cool,” said Sans, getting up. His character in the video game continued to beat the crud out of Undyne’s, Alphys’, and mine.  
“...Somehow, without even touching the controller, he’s still able to beat us,” said Alphys.  
“I feel cheated,” growled Undyne.  
“Holy cow, present time is now?” I exclaimed. “I need to run home and get them!”  
“...me too...” said Napstablook.  
“We’ll be right back!” I called as we left and hurried off to our respective homes. A few minutes later, we returned, and present time began!  
We brought chairs from the dining room, and everybody sat in a circle, either on a chair, on the couch, or on the floor. “OKAY, EVERYONE!” said Papyrus. “WHEN I SAY A PERSON’S NAME, EVERYONE WHO HAS A PRESENT FOR THAT PERSON GO OVER THERE AND GIVE IT TO THEM!”  
Napstablook raised their hand and opened their mouth to say something, but then Papyrus said, “AND BEFORE ANYONE ASKS, THERE WILL BE NO GUILT WHATSOEVER IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PRESENT FOR THAT PERSON. JUST DON’T MOVE!”  
Napstablook closed their mouth. “ALL RIGHTY, LET’S GET STARTED! HMM... EENY, MEENY, MINY... SANS!”  
“huh? what?” said Sans. “oh, sweet.”  
Everybody grabbed their present for Sans and formed a line, except for Napstablook, who hid inside their sweatshirt.  
“*Psst*,” whispered Alphys as she passed. “It’s okay! He said no guilt! You’re fine!”  
Papyrus was obviously first in line. “HERE YOU GO, BROTHER!” He handed Sans a medium-sized box.  
Sans shook it, and something thumped around inside. “hmmm, sounds like shoes...” He ripped open the wrapping paper and held up what had been inside.  
“huh. what do you know? shoes.” Sans examined them more closely. “no, papyrus... you didn’t... you... these are... sonic sneakers??” said Sans in shock. “wow. how did you know I love this kind of stuff?”  
“I HAVE MY WAYS...” said Papyrus slyly. “(WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT BE LOOKING AT YOUR BROWSER HISTORY...)” he added.  
“wha... history?” asked Sans. “eh, it’s fine. thanks, bro.”  
Papyrus gave his brother a huge grin and returned to his seat.  
“Oh, I’m next!” said Alphys. She hurried over with her small present. “Well, I know you love these, so here.” Sans opened it, revealing a joke book.  
“oh, sweet. thanks a bunch.”  
Undyne shuffled up to Sans, and shoved her gift at him. “Um, here.” It was another joke book. “Well... At least it’s not the same one, right?” she asked.  
“two joke books? best. christmas. ever,” grinned Sans.  
“Well, make it even better!” I said, handing him my present.  
“no way, not...” It was yet another joke book. “this is the greatest day of my life.”  
“YOU ARE FEEDING THE FLAMES OF AN INFERNO...” whimpered Papyrus. “PLEASE... STOP.”  
“Oh, not a chance.”  
Papyrus seemed eager to move on. “OKAY! NEXT PER-”  
“ah, ah, ah, who said i was finished?” interrupted Sans. He pulled a small, long package from seemingly out of nowhere. “it’s from some cool guy called sans.”  
Sans lifted the lid of the box, revealing a hot dog nestled in tissue paper. “oh, cool,” said Sans.  
Everyone was quiet. Finally, Alphys spoke. “You... wrapped up a hot dog...”  
“AND GAVE IT TO YOURSELF???” finished Papyrus.  
Sans pulled out a ketchup bottle and proceeded to squeeze a mountain of ketchup on the hot dog. “yep,” he said, and took a huge bite. “aren’t i thoughtful?”  
We all stared at him.  
“...Papyrus...” I said, and nudged Papyrus. “...Next person.”  
“OH! RIGHT! NEXT PERSON! UHHHH......” Papyrus stood in the middle of the circle, closed his eyes, and spun around. When he stopped spinning, he pointed at the person in front of him. “YOU!” It was Napstablook.  
They pulled off their hood in surprise. “...m-me?” they asked. “...w-who would...” They stopped when they saw me and Undyne heading towards them. “...oh. ...oh! are... are these for me...?”  
“Yep!” Undyne and I said at the same time.  
“After you, punk!” said Undyne.  
“No, after you!”  
“I insist!”  
“Fine, then!” I went over to Napstablook.  
“...hi there...” they said shyly.  
“Hey. This is for you.” I handed them my present. They opened it up.  
“... a CD?”  
“Yeah! I made you a mix! I think you’ll really like the songs on here.”  
“...oh... oh, wow! ...thank you...” Napstablook smiled at me.  
“You bet, ‘Dapper Blook’.” I smiled back and went back to my spot.  
Undyne approached Napstablook, holding something behind her back. “Well, speaking of ‘Dapper Blook’, I got this for you. It’s uh, not as cool as that there,” she said, gesturing to the CD in Napstablook’s hands, “but, here.” She handed them the hatbox she had been hiding.  
“a... a hat?” asked Napstablook.  
“Yep. C’mon, open it already!”  
Napstablook lifted the lid. “...oh!” they exclaimed, lifting out a white fedora with a silver band. “this is... really cool! ...thanks... undyne...”  
Undyne shrugged. “No problem. I heard you enjoy cool hats so...”  
“Come on, Blooky!” I called. “Try it on for us!”  
Napstablook blushed and slipped the hat onto their head. Everyone cheered.  
“...thanks.” They smiled shyly.  
“OKAY!” said Papyrus. “SO, IF NO ONE HAS ANY MORE GIFTS FOR... WHAT WAS IT? NAPPER HOG?”  
Napstablook shook their head. “...no, no... it’s... napstablook...”  
Papyrus put a hand around his ear. “SPOOKY... BLOO... BLOO?”  
“...heh... no, nap...sta... blook.”  
“OH, OKAY?” Papyrus still looked confused. “SO IF NO ONE HAS ANY MORE GIFTS FOR... THEM... THEN-”  
All of a sudden, there was a knock on the front door. “I’ll get it!” I jumped up and opened the door. “Hey, everyone, look who’s here!”  
“Hello, darlings!” said Mettaton, as he sashayed into the living room.  
“...mettaton? what... what are you doing here?” asked Napstablook.  
“Well, I couldn’t possibly miss an opportunity to give my favorite cousin a Christmas present, now could I?”  
“Cousin???” exclaimed everybody in shock.  
“...im...also...your only cousin...” mumbled Napstablook.  
“Well then, that makes you my favorite by default, doesn’t it, darling? Here! Catch!” Mettaton tossed a box to Napstablook, which they caught. Everybody cheered, and they blushed.  
“mettaton... you... got me a present...? you... didn’t have to do that...”  
“Don’t be silly, Blooky! Open it up!”  
Napstablook carefully removed the wrapping paper.  
“ooooh! you... got me... fancy headphones!” squeaked Napstablook. “thank you... so much...”  
“You’re welcome, darling! Now, if you all will excuse me, I have an urgent need to use the facilities. I will be back in a flash!” He disappeared into the hall.  
Papyrus turned to Alphys quickly. “ALPHYS, DID YOU...?”  
Alphys gave a small smile and nodded. “Way ahead of you. And... Blooky?”  
Napstablook was lying on the floor with their eyes closed and their new headphones on. Alphys pulled them off. “Blooky? D-did you, by any chance, bring the... the thing?”  
“...the thing?” asked Napstablook. “...oh, right... that thing. ...yeah, i was... hoping he’d show up.”  
“Papyrus, quick! He’ll be back any second! Do you have a stepladder?”  
“IN THE CLOSET!” Alphys ran off, grabbed it, and set it up near the door to the hall. Then she grabbed a fabric lump from Papyrus, another from Napstablook, another from her own bag, and hopped up onto the stepladder.  
Mettaton opened the door, but before he could take two steps out the door, Alphys tossed three t-shirts on his head. *FLUMP*  
“Ah!” yelled Mettaton. He stumbled for a second, then pulled them off his head. “What was that for? You... almost... made me...” He saw everyone staring at him excitedly.  
“What? Do I have a zit or...” Mettaton finally looked at the shirts he was holding. “#1 MTT Fan” written in silver, “#2 MTT Fan” written in yellow, and “#3 MTT Fan” written in red. “Oh! What are these?”  
“W-well, they’re, uh, not for you,” said Alphys.  
“THEY’RE FOR US TO WEAR TO DISPLAY OUR FANDOM FOR YOU!”  
“if... if that’s okay...”  
“Oh. My. Goodness!” exclaimed Mettaton. “Darlings!” Mettaton gave them all a crushing group hug.  
“OW!”  
“Uff!”  
“oof!”  
“You are the best fans anyone could ever ask for!”  
I tapped Mettaton on the shoulder.  
“Oh! Frisk, darling!” Mettaton released the others, and they gasped for air. “What is it?”  
“Here!” I handed him his present, which was a nice speaker for his phone.  
Mettaton opened it and just stared at it for a little while. “Oh no...” he said.  
“What? What is it?” I asked in concern.  
“You... are in danger of a crushing hug as well!” exclaimed Mettaton as he grabbed me into a crushing hug.  
“Oof!”  
Luckily Mettaton let me go before I could suffocate. “Thank you, darlings! You are truly wonderful!”  
“OKEY DOKEY!” said Papyrus. “METTATON, WHY DON’T YOU HELP YOURSELF TO SOME PIZZA WHILE I PICK THE NEXT PERSON?”  
“Fabulous!” Mettaton took some pizza and sat down on the floor.  
“LET’S SEE HERE... I CHOOSE...” Papyrus pointed to himself. “ME!”  
He plopped down on the floor. “I AM READY TO BE SHOWERED WITH GIFTS!”  
A line formed with Sans at the front. He took out his present, but before handing it to Papyrus, he said, “i give this to you on one condition...”  
“WHAT IS THAT?”  
“promise you’ll test these on yourself before you test them on me, please.”  
“TEST WHAT??? WHAT IS IT???”  
“open it and see.”  
Papyrus eagerly ripped off the wrapping paper. “OH. MY GOD. (SANS! DID YOU GET ME... A SPAGHETTI COOKBOOK?!?!)”  
“(yes.)”  
“OH MY GOD!!! THANK YOU, SANS!” Papyrus threw his arms around his brother in a crushing hug of his own.  
“HEY!” yelled Undyne, throwing her present to Papyrus. It hit him in the stomach. “Get your own present!” Papyrus unwrapped the present, and, sure enough, it was another spaghetti cookbook. The exact same edition, too.  
“hey, I-” started Sans.  
Papyrus was hugging the new cookbooks. “WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? I LIKE BOTH OF THEM! THANK YOU SO MUCH, UNDYNE!”  
Undyne grinned. “No sweat, Papyrus!”  
“hey, what’s that under the tree?” asked Sans.  
Papyrus gasped. “SANTA CAME EARLY!!!” He grabbed a box labeled “To: Papyrus. From: Santa,” and ripped it open. “ACTION FIGURES!!! YAY!!!”  
Sans turned and gave me a wink.  
“W-Well, add this to the pile, I guess,” said Alphys, handing Papyrus a present, which was another action figure.  
Papyrus gazed at his new action figures, starry eyed. “I AM GOING TO HAVE SO MANY NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEORETICAL BATTLE SCENARIOS...”  
“Well, that leaves me,” I said. “Papyrus, I know how you’ve been wanting to make more difficult puzzles, so... here you go.”  
Papyrus opened it. “ADVANCED PUZZLE CONSTRUCTION... FOR CRITICAL MINDS?!?!? OOH! OOH! OOOOOOH!” Papyrus started bouncing around with glee. “NOW MY PUZZLES WILL BE PRACTICALLY INSOLVEABLE! THANK YOU!!!” Papyrus gave me a big hug.  
I hugged him back. “You’re welcome! Thanks for being such a great friend.”  
Papyrus managed to compose himself. “ALL RIGHT! NOW!! NEXT PERSON!!! HMMM... FRISK, UNDYNE, AND ALPHYS! EACH OF YOU GIVE ME A DIFFERENT NUMBER FROM ONE TO THREE!”  
“T-two?” said Alphys.  
“Three!” said Undyne.  
“One!” I said, since that was the only other option.  
“OKAY! NOW, SPOOKY BLOO BLOO!”  
“I... think he means you, Blooky.” Napstablook was still lying on the floor, oblivious to the world around them. Alphys tapped them on the shoulder. Napstablook sat up and took off their headphones.  
“...yes?”  
“GIVE ME A NUMBER BETWEEN ONE AND THREE!”  
“...oh... um... one?”  
“I GUESS IT’S YOU, FRISK!”  
“Oh, goodie!” I said. Everyone lined up in front of me. And I mean EVERYONE. It was a... really nice surprise.  
Sans was first. “hey, kiddo. i remember on that outing you and i went on, you didn’t want any ketchup.”  
I opened the box he gave me. Inside was a glass bottle of ketchup.  
“well, maybe you’ll want it when it’s FANCY ketchup in a GLASS bottle.” Sans went back to his spot.  
“Was that a joke, or is he serious?” I asked.  
“MOST LIKELY BOTH,” said Papyrus. “NOW OPEN MINE! OPEN MINE!”  
Papyrus’ gift was a cropped t-shirt, similar to the one he had worn on our “date”. It had “Cool Kid” written across the chest and the shoulders looked like tennis balls.  
“NOW EVERYONE WILL KNOW HOW COOL YOU ARE, NOT JUST ME!”  
“Awww, thank you so much, Papyrus!” I said, hugging him.  
Undyne was next in line. “Hey, punk!”  
“Hi, Undyne!”  
“Hey, remember how awesome that cooking lesson was?” she asked.  
“Um, define ‘awesome.’”  
“Well, guess what your Christmas present is!”  
I gulped.  
“Non-cooking lessons! Starting now, I will never give you another cooking lesson ever again! How does that sound?”  
“Great!” I said. “Yeah, that sounds...” I cleared my throat. “That sounds good. Th-Thanks!”  
“You’re welcome! I don’t want to set anything else on fire. At least not this year,” said Undyne, going back to her seat.  
“Okay,” said Alphys, who was next. She took a deep breath. “Here.” She handed me her present.  
I unwrapped it, and it was a DVD of the first season of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie.  
“If you don’t like it, I don’t b-blame you,” she said quickly. “Anime i-is only for nerds and geeks-”  
“I love it.”  
Alphys grimaced. “I knew it! You- Wait. You... love it?”  
“Yes! I’ve always wanted to try this show!” I exclaimed. “Hey, maybe sometime you could come and watch it with me!”  
“Oh my god, really?” asked Alphys in shock. “That would be so fun! Thank you!”  
“No, thank you!” I said, and gave her a hug.  
Alphys scurried back to her spot, and Mettaton approached me. “Hello, darling! It is my duty as your friend to bestow upon you a gift!”  
He placed something on my head. I took it off to examine it. It was a pink baseball cap with the letters “MTT” on the front in glittery gold letters.  
“Oh, wow!” I said. “This is really cool!”  
“I’m sure it will be worth a lot when I’m a big star, so be sure to take good care of it!”  
“Thanks, Mettaton!”  
Last but not least was Napstablook. They edged nervously over to me. “...hi, frisk. I... um... hope you like this..."  
They handed me a small, flat package. I unwrapped it. It was a CD in a clear case. Written on the CD was the title “Spooktunes”.  
“Oh, I remember hearing this at your house!” I said. “I can’t wait to hear it again!”  
“...you... like it?” asked Napstablook.  
“Of course I do!”  
“......really?”  
“Yes, I really do,” I said with a patient smile.  
“............wow!”  
“OKAY! THAT LEAVES ALPHYS AND UNDYNE,” said Papyrus. “HMMM... (I’M RUNNING OUT OF CREATIVE WAYS TO CHOOSE...) OH!!! I KNOW!!! THUMB WRESTLING!”  
I was pretty sure I saw Papyrus give Sans a wink. Then, I was pretty sure I saw Sans wink back, and run off.  
“Th-Thumb wrestling?” asked Alphys. “S-Sure! Why not?” “Let’s go for it!” said Undyne. Undyne sat down next to Alphys on the couch and they joined hands and got ready.  
“One, two, three…” began Undyne.  
All of a sudden, everyone in the room began oohing. “What?” asked Undyne. “WHAT??? What’s everybody…”  
Only then did it occur to her to look up. Sans was behind the couch the two were sitting on, holding two sticks above each of their heads, at the end of which were little bunches of mistletoe.  
“Oh.”  
“Ehehehehe... V-Very f-funny guys...” said Alphys, blushing. She didn’t notice Undyne leaning toward her.  
She kissed Alphys on the cheek. “YAAAAAY!” Everybody cheered and clapped. Alphys’ face turned bright red.  
Undyne seized this opportunity to initiate the thumb war. “1234Ideclareathumbwar5678trytokeepyourthumbstraight!” She trapped Alphys’ thumb. “12345678910Iwin!”  
“Huh?” said Alphys dreamily. “What? D-Did something happen?”  
Papyrus snapped his fingers in front if Alphys’ face. “ALPHYS? AAALPHYYYS??? WELL, MAYBE IT’S BETTER IF YOU GO FIRST ANYWAY, UNDYNE.”  
“Yeah!” said Undyne, pumping her fist in the air. Everybody grabbed their presents and formed a line.  
“THIS MAY BE A BAD IDEA, BUT HERE.” said Papyrus, handing Undyne a present. “I HEARD YOU WANTED ONE BUT THE COACH WOULDN’T GET YOU ONE...”  
Undyne opened Papyrus’ present. “NO WAY! A whistle!” Undyne unpackaged it, raised it to her mouth and...  
“SCREEEEEEEECH!!!” Everyone covered their ears. Undyne removed the whistle. “Cool!”  
“I MAY HAVE CONDEMNED ALL OUR EARS TO DEATH...”  
“ouch,” said Sans. “undyne with a whistle. yeesh. well, here you go, undyne.” He handed her a present. “enjoy.” Sans walked back to his spot.  
Undyne opened it. “Well! 101 Football Strategies! This is, uh, neat! Thanks, Sans!”  
She looked at Sans, but he was asleep. “Zzzzzzzz...”  
“Ugh.”  
“Anyway!” I said. “My present is another cooking-related thing. Remember how you said you wanted to make your own pasta, but you didn’t have a pasta maker?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Well, here. This’ll remedy that!”  
Undyne opened it. “Awesome! Now I can make my own pasta... and still make a mess! Thanks a bunch!”  
“You’re welcome!” I said.  
Next was Alphys, who had a strangely cylindrical present. “H-Hi, Undyne,” she said. “I... I know that you enjoy anime as much as I do so... I got this f-for you.”  
Undyne removed the cap at the end of the tube and slid something out. It was a poster with a magical anime girl holding an enormous sword above her head. Below her were the words “Anime Is Real”.  
Undyne just stared at it. “What? Wh-What is it?” asked Alphys nervously. “Do you... not like it? Oh god, I knew I should have gone with the action figure-”  
“WHAT? NO WAY! I LOVE it!!!” Undyne gave Alphys an enormous hug. “This is the BEST present you could have possibly given me! Thank you!”  
“O-Oh!” Alphys smiled, and hugged Undyne back.  
Papyrus tapped Alphys on the shoulder. “UM, ALPHYS? ALPHYS! IT’S YOUR TURN FOR PRESENTS NOW!”  
“Huh? Oh, uh, o-okay!” Alphys let go of Undyne and sat on the couch. “I-I’m ready!”  
“hey alphys,” said Sans. “so, uh, my present isn’t actually here.”  
“Oh, y-you forgot it?” said Alphys. “Th-That’s okay-”  
“oh, no, it’s not that. my present is a subscription thingy that sends you anime stuff every month.”  
“W-Wait, what? Wow!” said Alphys. “And... how long does it last?”  
“a year.”  
“A... a whole year?” Alphys was shocked.  
“yep.”  
“eeeEEE! Thank you so much Sans!”  
Sans smiled. “no prob, alphys.”  
Next was Undyne. She sat next to Alphys on the couch with her present. “Hey.”  
“H-Hi...”  
“So… my present… you might already have it. But I’m pretty sure you don’t. I hope you don’t.”  
“Okay, I’m intrigued. What is it?”  
“I’m not telling! You have to open it and see for yourself! So open it already!”  
“Alright!”  
Alphys carefully removed the wrapping paper, which had the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie logo on it. “I want to save this adorable wrapping paper.” She took off the paper and looked at the present. It was a DVD. Alphys gasped. “Oh. My god. UNDYNE! Y-YOU FOUND IT! YOU FOUND IT! YOU FOUND MEW MEW KISSY CUTIE EPISODE 47.5!” She started bouncing around with joy.  
Undyne grinned. “So... you d0dn’t have it then?”  
“Are you KIDDING? This is the rarest of the rare, the DVD that will complete my collection!”  
“Why is it so super rare?” I asked.  
Alphys explained in a rush, getting more and more excited. “Mew Mew Kissy Cutie episode 47.5 a special promotial episode only aired in Japan, but it was recalled by the producers due to a production error. Scenes 4 through 6 were accidentally animated backwards and they never made a fixed version! Mew Mew fans have hunted all over for it, but not many have turned up! Undyne, you are AMAZING!” Alphys got so excited that she kissed Undyne. But almost instantly after that, she sat back down and her face turned bright red.  
“Um, wh-what I meant was... um, thank you, Undyne.”  
Undyne smiled, and kissed the top of her head. “Merry Christmas, Alphys.” She went and sat back down.  
Everybody cheered and clapped.  
Alphys sat back in her seat, staring off into space with a big old grin on her face.  
“...You look happy,” I said.  
“F-For two reasons!” she said. “I, uh... I think you know the first one, but the s-second one... I’m in anime heaven.”  
“Well, this’ll help!” I laughed, and slammed my present into her lap.  
“Oof!” she said as the weight hit her. “M-man, what is this, a brick? It feels like a brick.”  
She ripped off the wrapping paper, revealing a huge book. “It’s not a brick, is it?” I asked, suppressing a laugh.  
“N-no, it’s not, but it’s one big book!” said Alphys in awe.  
“The Ultimate Anime Encyclopedia doesn’t come small.”  
“N-no, I guess it doesn’t! Wow, this is so cool! Thank you so much!” She dumped the book off her lap and gave me a big hug.  
I hugged her back. “You’re welcome! I’m glad you like it!”  
“WELL, LOOKS LIKE THAT’S EVERYONE!” said Papyrus. “THANKS, EVERYBODY! THE PARTY WILL CONTINUE UNTIL WE DECIDE TO STOP OR UNTIL EVERYONE FALLS ASLEEP, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST!”  
* * *  
An hour later, Sans, Papyrus, Napstablook, Mettaton, and I were well into an extremely intense game of Monopoly. Mettaton owned half the board, and you could barely roll the dice without landing on one of his hotels.  
“HEY, WHERE DID UNDYNE AND ALPHYS DISAPPEAR TO?” Papyrus asked all of a sudden.  
Sans was counting his stack of fifty dollar bills. “dunno.”  
“I’ll go check on them.” I set my little shoe on Marvin Gardens, paid Mettaton his $1200, and got up. “Be right back!”  
I opened the door to the hall. I could hear some sort of theme music coming from the door to the den so I opened it.  
It was almost completely dark in the room, except for the glow of the TV, which was playing... the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie Christmas Special? It took a little while for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but when they did...  
Undyne and Alphys were sitting on the couch. Undyne had her arm around Alphys’ shoulder, and Alphys was leaning her head on Undyne’s shoulder. But they were both fast asleep.  
I quietly backed out of the room, quietly closed the door behind me, then sank down and sat leaning against it.  
“Such a... CUTE!”  
I went back to the living room, where Papyrus had just collected his rent from Napstablook.  
“WHERE WERE THEY?” he asked.  
“Um, they’re in the den,” I said, trying desperately to keep a straight face. “They’re, uh, watching a movie, though, so... we’d better not... bother them.”  
“ALRIGHTY THEN!” said Papyrus. “BUT THEY’RE GOING TO MISS OUT...”  
“What are they missing out on?” asked Mettaton, who was sorting his immense pile of cash.  
“WELL, SINCE WE’RE ALL GETTING TIRED AND OVER EXCITED, THIS MAY BE THE OPPORTUNE MOMENT TO BRING OUT THE CUPCAKES MY MOM HAS IN THE KITCHEN FOR US...”  
“Yaaaaay!” Everybody cheered and abandoned the Monopoly game to swarm Papyrus with the cupcake tray. Except for Sans, who took this moment to replace all of Mettaton’s money with $1 bills. All the commotion brought Undyne and Alphys from the den.  
“W-what’s going on?” asked Alphys, rubbing her eyes.  
“CUPCAKES!” said Papyrus.  
“...would you... like some?” asked Napstablook.  
“Would I???” exclaimed Undyne. “Gimme!” she barged her way through the mass of people crowding around Papyrus and grabbed a cupcake in each hand. She tossed one over her head to Alphys behind her and took a huge bite out of the frosting of the other.  
I managed to snag a cupcake and retreat to the safety of the couch. Before too long, Undyne came over to me and stood in front of the couch.  
“Hey,” she said.  
“Hi, Undyne.”  
“Awesome party, huh?”  
“Yeah, Papyrus did a great job.”  
“Y’know, I-” All of a sudden, Undyne looked to my left and seemed to notice something.  
“What? What is it?”  
Undyne dashed over to the window to the left of the couch and opened it. A big gust of cold air blew in. She stuck her head out and yelled, “HEY, YOU! YEAH, YOU, PUNK! GET OUTTA HERE AND STOP SNOOPING!” She pulled her head back and slammed the window.  
“What was that?”  
“Some creep was looking through the window. I didn’t get a clear look, ’cause I was too busy screaming at them, but I’m pretty sure they had golden hair.”  
I started in surprise.  
“What?” asked Undyne. “Does that mean something?”  
“N-No...” I shook my head. “Never mind. Don’t worry about it.”  
“Well, c’mon, let’s go do something fun!”  
“...Sure.”  
* * *  
A few hours later, after Home Alone, A Muppet Christmas Carol, and way too much popcorn and shenanigans, Papyrus got our attention. “WELL EVERYONE, IT’S 11:03, AND I THINK IT’S HIGH TIME WE ALL WENT TO BED. AFTER ALL, SANTA WON’T COME UNTIL YOU’RE ASLEEP!”  
“welp, i’m going to bed,” said Sans, and he promptly sacked out on the couch and began snoring.  
“Good night, Sans,” I said.  
“Oh my god, I’m gonna be super tired in the morning,” said Alphys drowsily. “...But it was totally worth it!”  
“You got that right!” said Undyne, and they both left.  
“Goodnight, darlings!” said Mettaton as he exited dramatically.  
“mettaton... wait...” said Napstablook as they followed him out the door, still wearing their fancy headphones and fedora.  
“Papyrus...” I called.  
Papyrus stopped halfway up the stairs to his room. “OH! YES, FRISK?”  
I silently walked up the couple of steps to him and wrapped my arms around him. “Papyrus... thank you... so much. And tell Sans thanks too!”  
Papyrus smiled. “...YOU’RE MOST CERTAINLY WELCOME. MERRY CHRISTMAS, FRISK!”


	22. Chapter 22

The rest of break passed by, and before anyone knew it, it was back to school. Undyne demonstrated the power of her new whistle at P.E. class, much to the dismay of the other kids, Sans’ new shoes attracted the attention of many other nerds, and I noticed Napstablook sitting on the floor in the hallway, deeply immersed in the music from their new headphones. Pretty successful Christmas, in my opinion.  
Relatively uneventful days turned into relatively uneventful weeks, and relatively uneventful weeks turned into relatively uneventful months. Sure, Mettaton starred in the school musical, and sure, Napstablook revealed their newest choice of hat, a bowler with a feather stuck in the hatband, but other than that, nothing much really happened. It was just... school. Homework. Studying. Tests. Pretty boring, but we were all kept busy with schoolwork and other stuff to do.  
It was now the middle of May, and the school year was starting to wind down. One afternoon, I had finished my homework and was slumped on the couch, half-watching TV.  
Bored...  
Suddenly, I had an idea. I hopped up and grabbed my phone. I dialed and waited...  
*Ring... Ring...  
“Hello?” said a cheerful voice on the other end.  
“Hi, Asgore!” I said.  
“Oh, hello there, Frisk!” I could almost hear him smiling. “How have you been? I’m so glad to hear from you!”  
“I’m doing great!” I said. “Hey, I was wondering... Do you think we could have a re-do on that cup of tea? We never really got to chat last time. I’m sorry I never got around to asking earlier, it’s just... school.”  
“Oh, no problem at all!” said Asgore. “That sounds like a wonderful idea!” he said. “Come right over!”  
“Thanks! I’ll be there in a jiffy!”  
*Click...  
I shouted a good-bye to my mom, and ran out the door. A few minutes later, I was ringing Asgore’s doorbell.  
*Ding dong...  
He opened the door. “Howdy!” he said with a big smile. “Come on in and have a seat! I’ll put the tea on.”  
I went inside and sat down at the table. Soon, Asgore had handed me a steaming cup of tea, and he sat down opposite me.  
The tea and the conversation we had was really nice. Asgore asked me about my classes and my friends and everything I had gotten to do that year. I told him about meeting all my friends and how much I loved the school. All too soon, I had to go.  
I stood up from the table. “Well, that was... great. I really enjoyed that. Thanks so much for having me!”  
“No, thank YOU, Frisk!” said Asgore. “I never got to say this earlier, but it really was very nice to meet you. Goodbye!”  
“See you soon, Asgore!” I said, and headed out the door. But I had no sooner left the front gate when...  
“OOF!” I had walked right into somebody. I fell flat on my butt. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there!” I said, getting up. “Are you here to see Asgore too?”  
“Actually, I am here to see you.”  
I finally realized who I had plowed into. “Toriel!” I cried.  
“Yes, it is I, Toriel, your friend and guardian!” I ran up to her and gave her a big hug.  
“It’s been so long!” I said. “I’m so glad to see you!”  
“I am happy to see you too, Frisk!” she said. “And yes, it has been a while. At first, I thought I would let you do this on your own... but I could not stop worrying about you. I eventually decided to go and check on you. I stopped by your house, but your mother told me that you had just left to go here, so I came here hoping I would run into you and, well, here we are!”  
Suddenly, Asgore emerged onto his front porch. “What’s all the commotion?” Then he noticed Toriel. “Tori... You came back...!” he said, astonished.  
“Do not ‘Tori’ me, Dreemurr!” snapped Toriel. “You pathetic whelp. You left me when I needed you most! You left me!”  
Asgore sighed. “...Tori... You’re right. I am a miserable creature...” He looked up sheepishly. “But, do you think we can at least be friends again?”  
Toriel heaved an exasperated sigh. “No, Asgore.”  
All of a sudden, I heard pounding feet coming up the sidewalk.  
“NGAAAHHHHH!” yelled Undyne. “Asgore! Frisk! How’s it going?”  
“Hi, Undyne!” I waved, surprised.  
“Hello,” said Toriel. “I am Toriel. Are you Frisk’s friend? It is nice to meet you!”  
“Uh, yeah...?” said Undyne. “Nice to meet you!” She edged over to Asgore. “Hey Asgore,” she whispered. “Is that your ex? Jeez. That’s rough, buddy.”  
Just then, Alphys appeared. “Hi, Alphys!” I called in surprise. “What are you doing here?”  
“I heard you were over here, so I came to say hi! So... hi?”  
“Oh!” said Toriel. “Are you another friend? I am Toriel. Hello!”  
“Uh, h-h-hi!” stammered Alphys. She looked a little nervous around Toriel, so she edged her way over to stand next to Undyne.  
“WOWIE!” came a voice from down the sidewalk. It was Papyrus. “IT LOOKS LIKE ALMOST EVERYONE’S HERE! THIS IS GREAT!”  
“Hello?” said Toriel.  
“OH! HELLO!” said Papyrus, then whispered to me, “PSST! HEY, FRISK...”  
“Yeah?”  
“DID ASGORE DYE HIS HAIR...? AND CLONE HIMSELF???”  
“Papyrus! Really?” I asked, incredulous.  
“hey, guys... what’s up?” Sans pushed open the gate.  
Suddenly, Toriel’s eyes grew wide. “That voice...!!” She went over to Sans. “Hello. I think we may... know each other?”  
“oh hey... I recognize your voice, too.”  
“I am Toriel. So nice to meet you.” She smiled at him.  
“the name’s sans. and, uh, same,” Sans replied awkwardly.  
“Oh! Wait, then...!” Toriel turned to Papyrus. “This must be your brother, Papyrus! Greetings, Papyrus! It is so nice to finally meet you! Your brother has told me so much about you.”  
“WOWIE... I CAN’T BELIEVE ASGORE’S CLONE KNOWS WHO I AM!” exclaimed Papyrus. “THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!”  
Just then, Toriel smiled slyly. “Hey, Papyrus... What does a skeleton tile his roof with?” Sans grinned silently as well.  
“HMMM... SNOW-PROOF ROOF TILES???” Papyrus guessed.  
“No, silly! A skeleton tiles his roof with... shingles!!!”  
“I CHANGED MY MIND!!!” wailed Papyrus. “THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!”  
I noticed Asgore was still on the front porch. He was crying quietly, and Undyne and Alphys were next to him.  
“Come on, Asgore!” Undyne was saying. “It’s gonna be OK! There are plenty of other fish in the sea...”  
“Y-Yeah, Asgore!!” piped in Alphys. “Undyne’s totally right about that fish thing! S-Sometimes you’ve just got to, uh...” She grinned nervously. “Stop going after girls who d-don’t like you and, uh... J-just get to know a really cute fish...?” I gave her a confused look. “It’s a metaphor.”  
“Well, I think it’s a good analogy,” said Undyne.  
All of a sudden, a loud voice interrupted. “Oh my GOD!” It was Mettaton, who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. “Will you two just SMOOCH already!? Everyone is dying for some romantic action!”  
“HEY, SHUT UP!!!” yelled Undyne. “Man, the nerve of that guy!” she chuckled nervously. “Right, Alphys!?? ...Uh, Alphys?”  
Alphys had a determined expression on her face. “...No, he’s right. LET’S DO IT.”  
Undyne looked taken aback. “????????? Well??? Uh???” It was one of the first times I had ever seen her lost for words. “I guess??? If you want to??? Then???” She grinned. “Don’t hold anything back!!!”  
“W-wait!” interrupted Toriel frantically. “Not in front of everyone!”  
“Y’know, everyone’s already seen-” I started to say.  
“Uhh, right!” said Alphys. “S-sorry, I got a little carried away there.”  
Toriel giggled. Then she turned to me. “Frisk, I know that you have had trouble adjusting to your new school.” She smiled a warm and friendly smile. “But, looking at all the great friends you have made... I think... I think you will be happy here.”  
“I know I will, Tori,” I said.  
“H-Hey, that reminds me,” said Alphys. “Papyrus, you called everyone here, right?” she asked. “Well, besides, uh, her.” She gestured to Toriel. “Uh, anyway... If I got here before you... How did you know to call everybody?”  
“LET’S JUST SAY... A GUY NAMED FLOWEY HELPED ME!” said Papyrus.  
“A guy... named Flowey?” asked Alphys, confused.  
I felt the blood drain from my face.  
“Frisk?” asked Toriel. “Are you all right? What is the matter?”  
Before I could answer, Undyne shouted: “FRISK! LOOK OUT!!!”  
All of a sudden, something flew at me from behind and tackled me to the ground. It was Flowey. He put me in a headlock so I couldn’t move. “You idiots,” he snarled. “While you guys were having your little pow-wow, I snuck up right under your idiotic little noses!” He giggled maniacally. “Hee hee hee... And you know what the best part is? All the time you spent listening to them... encouraging them... caring about them...” Flowey smiled evilly. “Without that, they wouldn’t have come here.”  
“You think your ‘friends’ can protect you?” Flowey snarled. “You think being ‘kind’ and ‘caring’ is worth something? Well, I’ll show you the truth. It was all for nothing.”  
I pulled at Flowey’s arm in desperation. “Why?” I choked out. “Why are you still doing this?”  
Flowey laughed. “Really? Are you really that stupid? Don’t you get it? This is just a game. If you make all these ‘friends’, you’ll ‘win’ the game. If you ‘win’, you won’t want to ‘play’ with me anymore. You’ll be so high up with your little ‘friends’ that you won’t ever notice me again! And what would I do then? But this game between us will never end. I’ll hold victory in front of you, just within your reach... and then tear it away just before you grasp it.”  
Flowey giggled. “Listen. If you do defeat me... if you ‘win’, I’ll give you your ‘happy ending’. I’ll stop torturing you. I’ll let you be satisfied with your ‘friends’. But that won’t happen. You-! I’ll keep you fighting no matter what!”  
Flowey tightened his grip on my neck, causing me to cough and choke even more.   
All of a sudden, Toriel leapt forward and grabbed Flowey’s arm. “No!” she shouted and yanked.  
“What?” said Flowey. “Let go of me!”  
Toriel struggled to pull Flowey’s arm off of me. “Do not be afraid...” she said to me. “No matter what happens... We will always be there to protect you!”  
“Get OFF!” yelled Flowey. He yanked his arm out of Toriel’s grasp and kicked her. She hit the wall with a thud and sat there, stunned.  
“LEAVE HER ALONE!” I yelled and struggled to break free, but Flowey only tightened his grip.  
He let go of my neck, placed a foot on my chest, and forced me to the ground. He wound up for a punch, but three hands grabbed his arm.  
“THAT’S RIGHT, FRISK!” said Papyrus. “WE KNOW THAT YOU CAN WIN! JUST DO WHAT I WOULD DO... BELIEVE IN YOU!!!”  
“Hey!” shouted Undyne. “If you got past me, you can do anything!” She gave me a big grin. “So don’t worry! We’re with you all the way!”  
“huh? you haven’t beaten this guy yet?” asked Sans. “come on, this weirdo’s got nothin’ on you.”  
“Let GO!” screamed Flowey. He shoved Papyrus, Undyne, and Sans, and they all landed hard on the floor.  
He tried to attack again, but Asgore grabbed him by the shoulders and held him back, while Alphys did her best to keep his hands behind his back.  
“Technically, he’s too strong for you to beat him...” she said. “B-But... Somehow, I know you can do it!!”  
“Frisk,” said Asgore, “for all of our sakes...! You have to stay determined!”  
Flowey struggled under their holds. “Urrrgh... NO!” he yelled. “Unbelievable!! This can’t be happening! You... You...!”  
Then he stopped struggling. He looked directly at me and smiled an evil smile.  
“I can’t believe you’re all so STUPID.”  
He wiggled free from the grips of Asgore and Alphys.  
“Don’t you understand?” he shouted. “There is NOTHING you can do!” He ran out the gate.  
“That’s where you’re wrong, Flowey.” I took a deep breath, got up and prepared to follow him.  
“Frisk...” said Toriel, “...be careful!”  
“GOOD LUCK!” cheered Papyrus.  
“we’re rooting for ya, kid,” smiled Sans.  
“I know you can do it!” said Alphys.  
“Me too, punk!” agreed Undyne.  
“You know what you have to do...” said Asgore, “So… go do it!”  
“Thank you so much, guys,” I said. “You’re the best. Now, I’ve got a job to do.” I ran out the door.  
I could see the small dot of Flowey turning a nearby corner. I raced down the sidewalk after him. My feet pounded on the cement. I followed Flowey for block after block until he opened the back gate to a small house. I ran through the side yard to the back, which was... empty. Just then, I heard the gate slamming behind me. Flowey had hid behind the gate, and was now snapping a padlock through the latch.  
“Finally,” he said, his back to me. “I just wanted to get home... where there’s no one but US!” He wheeled around and faced me, a menacing gleam in his eye.  
“Flowey...” I said calmly. “Don’t do this.”  
“Don’t do this?” Flowey said, incredulous. “Ha! Toooo laaate!” He swung a punch directly at my face. I ducked, and I felt the air whoosh through my hair.  
Flowey started slowly walking towards me. “You know...” he said thoughtfully. “The best part of all this is... you’ll never give up.”  
He charged at me and tried to grab me. I managed to dodge, but just barely.  
“And then you’ll lose to me again-” He punched me in the chest. “-and again-” He kicked me right in the gut. “-and again!” He dropped to the ground and with a sweep of his leg, knocked me off my feet. I landed hard on my back in the mud, which knocked the air right out of me.  
Flowey’s grinning face loomed over me as I lay on the ground. “What are you gonna do now?” he asked.  
“Please, just STOP!” I pleaded. “I don’t want to fight!”  
“Ha!” he jeered. “Why?” He kicked me in the ribs, and answered his own question. “Because you want a ‘happy ending’.” He pinned me down with a foot and punched me. “Because you ‘love your friends’.” He pushed his foot down harder on my chest, making it harder for me to breathe. He pinched two fingers into my cheek and squeezed so hard that his fingernails drew blood. “Because you ‘never give up’.” He laughed. “Isn’t that delicious? Your ‘determination’... It’s gonna be your downfall!”  
“Flowey, I don’t want to hurt you,” I persisted, actively forcing myself not to cry. “I WON’T fight!”  
“Then you LOSE!” screamed Flowey. “You get NOWHERE by being ‘nice’! You get NOWHERE by making ‘friends’! There is NOTHING you can do!”  
All of a sudden, Flowey interrupted himself with a loud cry of pain. “OW!” It seemed like somebody hit Flowey with a rock.  
Suddenly, everyone came piling through Flowey’s back door.  
“HELLO!” called Papyrus cheerfully.  
“Guys!” I said in surprise and relief.  
“Wha- How did you get in here?!?” cried Flowey in rage.  
“Fuhuhuhu!” Undyne laughed. “We knocked!”  
“the door was literally unlocked,” said Sans.  
“Flowey, you should always check to make sure your door is locked before leaving the house. You should know that.”  
“Gah!” This changes nothing! It’s still just you and me,” Flowey said, glaring at me.  
“Ha! As if!” said Undyne, and she shoved Flowey off of me.  
“Uh... Y-Yeah!” said Alphys as she took my hand and helped me to my feet.  
“we’re with ya too, right, bro?” asked Sans.   
“OF COURSE WE ARE!” said Papyrus, and the brothers stood on either side of me.  
“And me as well,” said Toriel as she stood behind me, placing her hands on my shoulders.  
“...Oh!” said Asgore in surprise. “Um... Me too?” Toriel sighed in exasperation.  
I stood there, facing Flowey as he struggled to his feet, all my friends behind me.  
“ENOUGH!” yelled Flowey as he got to his feet, looking even more enraged than ever.  
I took a deep breath. “Guys... Guys, stand back... this could get ugly.”  
“Frisk, what are you-” began Toriel, but I didn’t let her finish. I stepped forward and held out my arms to the boy who stood before me.  
“FLOWEY!” I shouted.  
Flowey smirked at me. “What are you doing?”  
“I’m saving you. I’m trying to help you. Flowey... you must have had someone in your life... someone who was friends with you... and you were friends with them too. ...I know you can recreate that... if you just try.”  
Flowey stood stock still. I continued, “That’s all I want, Flowey. All I want is for you to feel like you have a friend. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. There are people in this world who are lonely, scared, and hurting. All I want is for them to feel like someone cares about them.” I took a deep breath. “And something is telling me that you are one of those lonely, scared, and hurting people. I don’t know what happened, but I want to help. I want to save you. I want to be your friend.”  
Flowey was silent. “What... what are you doing to me?”  
“All I’m doing is trying to help,” I said calmly.  
Flowey’s breathing grew heavier. “No. NO!” He suddenly shouted. “I don’t need ANYONE!”  
“Maybe... but I don’t think that’s true. I’m sure you cared about someone... at some point... Can you remember, Flowey?”  
Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought I saw a tear welling up in his eye. “STOP IT!” he screamed. “Get away from me! Do you hear me? I’ll tear you apart!”  
“If you feel like you have to do that, there’s nothing I can do to stop you...” I said. “But please... just let me save you.”  
Flowey’s face was full of frustration, confusion, and ...something else I couldn’t recognize. “...Frisk... Do you know why I’m doing this...? Why I keep fighting to keep you around?”  
“Why?” I asked softly.  
“I’m doing this... Because you’re right, Frisk. That’s… that’s all I’ll say. So please... STOP doing this... AND JUST LET ME WIN!!!”  
Flowey rushed at me and tackled me to the floor. He began hitting me with a flurry of blows. I didn’t move. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Toriel jump and take a step towards us, but Sans grabbed her hand and pulled her back.  
“STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!!!” I saw a single tear roll down his cheek. The punches slowed. “Stop...” Then he stopped altogether.  
“...Frisk... I’m so alone, Frisk...” He took a deep, shuddery breath. “Frisk, I... I...”  
Then Flowey collapsed to his knees, buried his face in his hands, and burst into tears.  
I knelt next to him and put an arm around his shoulder, while my friends watched in amazement.  
“I’m so sorry,” Flowey whispered. “I haven’t felt like this for a long time.” He lifted his tear-stained face and looked at me. “When... some stuff happened, I... I started feeling very cold and ...soulless, I guess you could say. I... had trouble showing compassion.  
“Frisk, I... I understand if you can’t forgive me. I understand if you hate me. I acted so strange and horrible. I hurt you. And your friends. There’s no excuse for what I’ve done.”  
I gave Flowey a gentle smile. “I forgive you, Flowey.”  
Flowey’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Wh... What? ...Frisk, come on.” He sniffled. “You’re gonna make me cry again.”  
“Hey, does anyone have any tissues on them?” I asked.  
Alphys cleared her throat. “Uh, y-yeah, I do!” She handed me a package of tissues, and I pulled one out and handed it to Flowey. He laughed and cried at the same time while he dabbed at his eyes.  
After a while, he said, “Frisk... I should go now. So... It’s best if you just forget about me, ok? Just go be with the people who love you.”  
I said nothing. “Frisk... you’re... You’re gonna do a great job, okay? No matter what you do. Everyone will be there for you, okay?”  
He got up from the ground and unlocked the back gate with a key from his pocket. “Well... Thanks, Frisk. Goodbye.” He started walking towards his back door. Suddenly he stopped. “By the way... I’ll tell you sometime, okay? About what happened. Just... not now.” He went inside his house. “And I’m LOCKING my door, Toriel!” he called. Everyone laughed except for me. Flowey’s back door shut, and we all stood there, silent. I still knelt on the ground.  
Finally, Toriel walked up to me, still silent, knelt down, and gave me a big hug. “I’m so proud of you,” she whispered in my ear. “Oh my goodness…” she said, giving me a once-over. “You’re covered in blood…” I looked down, and saw that she was right. My nose was cascading blood and it had splattered all over my face and shirt. My muscles and bones ached. My cheek was still bleeding and had been swelling too, and while I hadn’t noticed until then, it had swollen so much I could barely see out of my right eye.  
“I’ll… I’ll be fine, Tori,” I gulped. “I have stuff at home to take care of it.” Toriel still looked concerned, so I hugged into her tighter.  
= “FRISK, THAT WAS THE MOST AWESOME THING I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!” said Papyrus enthusiastically. “AND I KNOW AWESOME.”  
I looked up at him. “Thanks, Papyrus,” I said. Seeing him smiling at me and the rest of my friends gathered around broke the last bit of willpower I had, and I burst into tears. I held my arms out to Papyrus, and he immediately knelt down on the ground and hugged me tight. I felt Toriel’s arms wrap around me too, from where she was right next to me.  
I put my head down on Papyrus’ shoulder and sobbed as I felt Sans, Alphys, Undyne, and eventually Asgore join the group hug.  
After a few moments, we all let go as I wiped my eyes. Papyrus sniffed.  
“bro… are you crying too?” asked Sans.  
“WHAT!!” said Papyrus. “I’M NOT CRYING!!! I DON’T CRY!! I JUST… CAUGHT SOMETHING IN MY EYE.”  
“what did you catch?”  
“TEARS!!!”  
We all laughed, including me this time.  
Sans placed a hand on my shoulder. “good job, kiddo,” he said. “we’re all proud of ya. and, well, if you’re sure you’re ok… papyrus... we should go home.” He and his brother walked off.  
“Yeah...” said Undyne, as Toriel took a tissue from Alphys and wiped the blood off my face from where it was leaking out of my nose. “I couldn’t have done that. I probably would have pounded his guts out a long time ago.”  
“I probably would have gone and hid in my basement a long time ago,” added Alphys.  
“...Well, I should probably get going.” Undyne jogged off through the gate.  
“Undyne! Wait!” said Alphys, following her.  
Asgore came up to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Well done, Frisk. We all knew you could do it. See you soon!” He waved and disappeared through the gate.  
It was just me and Toriel left in Flowey’s backyard. We said nothing for a while, just stood there in silence. Finally, Toriel held out a hand to me. “Shall I walk you home?” she asked. I nodded, took her hand, and we both walked out the gate and down the sidewalk, all the way back to my house.  
* * *  
When Toriel dropped me off at my house, I knew I was going to be home alone, because there were no cars in the driveway.  
As I stuck my key in the front door, I felt the other key that was on my keychain, and I remembered where I had gotten it.  
I thought back to Sans and myself in the forest shrine thingy. “here’s the key to my room... it’s time... You learned the truth.” But my mind was all fuzzy and I was still dazed from my fight with Flowey, and it was hard for me to concentrate.  
I opened the door, absently tossed my backpack onto the couch, (right next to Monster the cat, who yelped and leaped off), and flopped on the floor.  
When I woke up, I could feel a weight on my chest, and I could smell delicious smells coming from the kitchen. Monster was sleeping on me, but I needed to get up to investigate the food in the kitchen. When I stood up, Monster jumped off me and skittered down the hall.  
I went into the kitchen... and saw Papyrus, stirring a pot and wearing an apron that said “Shower the Cook with Kisses”.  
I stopped in the doorway. “Papyrus! What are you doing here? And, more importantly, how did you get in?”  
He looked over at me and smiled. “HELLO, FRISK! I JUST CAME OVER TO CHECK ON HOW YOU’RE DOING, BUT WHEN I KNOCKED ON THE DOOR, IT JUST SWUNG RIGHT OPEN! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD KNOW TO CLOSE AND LOCK YOUR DOOR WHEN YOU ENTER YOUR HOME, ESPECIALLY AFTER WHAT HAPPENED WITH FLOWEY! LUCKY I CAME BY! I CLOSED THE DOOR, SAW YOU SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR, (WHICH IS NOT GOOD FOR YOUR SPINE, BY THE WAY) PLACED YOUR CAT UPON YOUR CHEST, AND PROCEEDED TO COOK YOU SPAGHETTI!”  
“Wow, thanks, Papyrus! It smells great!”  
“NYEH HEH HEH! OF COURSE IT DOES! NOW, SIT DOWN AT THE TABLE! IT’S ALMOST READY!”  
I sat down, and, soon enough, Papyrus brought me a plate of steaming spaghetti and meatballs. I took a bite. It was pretty hot, but other than that, it was fantastic!  
Papyrus was sitting across from me, waiting eagerly for my response. “It’s fantastic!” I said with my mouth full.  
“AS I EXPECTED!”  
I was about to ask him about the homework for Science, but then he glanced at his watch. “OH DEAR! LOOK AT THE TIME! I HAVE TO GO! ENJOY THE SPAGHETTI, FRISK! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!” And with that, he ran out of the house. I got up, locked the door behind him, and then sat back down to finish my spaghetti.  
After I finished my dinner, I pulled out my phone and stared at Sans’ key. I wondered what he meant by “the truth”.  
I decided it was time to find out. I pulled on my jacket, shoved my phone into the pocket, and set off towards Sans’ and Papyrus’ house.  
When I got there, I saw a note on the front door. It was written in messy scrawl that I could only assume was Sans’ handwriting. “hey. if you’re frisk... come on in. the key i gave you works here, too. just... be careful, okay?”  
I crept uneasily into the house and up the stairs. I could hear Papyrus making loud noises in his bedroom, so I assumed he was playing with his action figures.  
The telltale fire was still pouring out of Sans’ room. I went over to it and stuck my key in the lock. It clicked. I turned the key slowly, and went in.  
It was pitch black in there. I cautiously took a few steps forward, groping around to find the light switch.  
When I heard a sound like howling wind, I got so freaked out that I turned to leave. However, just as I was nearing the door, it slammed shut, and I was left in complete darkness. I stumbled around, trying to feel the doorknob, but after a while, it felt like I wasn’t moving at all, like the ground was pushing me away. I frantically tried to run somewhere, anywhere, but I just couldn’t.  
Then I heard a *FLICK*, and I was blinded by a sudden burst of light.  
When I could see again, I saw Papyrus standing in the doorway. He was holding two of his action figures. “HEY, SANS, HAVE YOU SEEN MY…” He stopped when he saw who I was. “OH. HELLO. YOU AREN’T SANS. WAIT A SECOND… WHY WERE YOU USING A TREAMILL IN THE DARK?”  
“It’s a long story.”  
“IS SANS PRANKING YOU IN VERY ODD WAYS? I HATE IT WHEN HE DOES THAT! HOW IMMATURE CAN YOU GET? ALSO, HAVE YOU SEEN MY ACTION FIGURES?” Papyrus paused, presumably thinking. “WAIT! I KNOW WHERE TO LOOK!!! IN MY HANDS! NYEH HEH HEH!!! SOMETIMES, I’M A GENIUS. ALL THE TIME” He left the room. When I stepped off the treadmill, I saw a note attached to it. It was written in the same scrawled chicken scratch as the note on the door. “the truth is that you got owned, nerd.”  
I crumpled up the note in frustration and threw it into Sans’ trash can.  
For the first time, I got a look at the room. It was a mess, with sheets and socks piled everywhere, a lamp with a flashlight stuck in it, and a... self-sustaining tornado made of trash and a dog. The dog was sleeping, seemingly unaware of its predicament.  
What passed for Sans’ “bed” would never has passed for one in my family. It consisted of an old mattress with the sheets piled up in a weird, creasy ball. Next to it was a “dresser” made of a cardboard box. I tried to turn on the flashlight that was stuck in the lamp in the place of a lightbulb, but it was out of batteries. There was one drawer. I looked inside. Inside was a lone silver key. Figuring Sans owed me for pranking me, I took it.  
Back outside of the house, I circled around it, looking for another door. There had to be something this key unlocked.  
My search was rewarded when I found a grey door at the back of the house. I stuck the key in the lock and turned it. The lock clicked, and the door swung open.  
I went down a very long flight of stairs before landing in a brightly lit room with four drawers, blueprints, and a thing covered by a curtain.  
I examined the blueprints. They were covered in some strange symbols I didn’t understand.  
I gave up on the prints and examined the first drawer. Inside was a photo album with photos of Sans with a lot of people I didn’t recognize. He looked happy. I flipped to the last page. Tucked into a pocket was a crudely drawn picture of three smiling people. Scrawled in shaky handwriting on it were the words “don’t forget.” In the second drawer was some kind of badge. The third and fourth drawers were completely empty except for a few bits of white fluff in the back.  
I tried to peel back the curtain that was covering what looked like a strange machine, but the fabric was glued on.  
Not knowing what else to do, I went back up the stairs and out into the sun. I was thoroughly confused about everything that I saw down there, but I didn’t want to pry into what Sans clearly wanted to keep private. I felt bad for taking the key in the first place. I put the key back in Sans’ drawer, and, as an afterthought, made his bed and got an actual lightbulb for the lamp. I didn’t pick up his socks, though. They were too scandalous for me to even touch.  
On the way home, I heard the sound of laughter as I walked past the park. I looked over and saw Sans and Toriel sitting together on a bench, cracking up about something. I headed over to them.  
“Hey guys!” I said.  
“Hello Frisk!” said Toriel.  
“hey, kid,” said Sans.  
“What’s up?” I asked.  
“actually, i kinda need to go,” said Sans, “but i’ll catch up with you later, okay kid?”  
“Okay, see ya!” I waved as Sans left.  
I sat down next to Toriel. “So, Tori,” I said. “You and Sans met from opposite sides of a fence, right? How did that happen?”  
Toriel shook her head. “Oh, that is a long story…”  
I scooched closer to Toriel hopefully.  
She laughed. “Very well, I will tell it to you.” She took a deep breath. “So, I am not an only child. I have a younger brother named Asriel. He was such a sweet little boy…” She gulped. “He was the kind of child who cared about everyone and would help anyone who needed it. I did everything in my power to make sure he was never hurt or in trouble. He looked up to me, and, if we are being honest, I looked up to him.”  
“Aw, that’s so sweet!” I said.  
“Yes, he was,” said Toriel. “Unfortunately, about a year ago –” Her voice caught in her throat. “He became very ill. He –” Toriel gulped. “He passed away shortly afterwards.” I saw a tear roll down her cheek. “He was only six years old.”  
I silently wrapped my arms around her. She hugged me back, sniffling.  
“Thank you, Frisk,” she said. “It is still difficult to bring up. It was extremely difficult for me at the time. I relied heavily on my family and friends to help me through it. However, one of my closest friends did not.”  
She took a deep breath. “You may have heard that Asgore and I used to be in a relationship. We were very happy for several months. So when Asriel passed away I really needed his support. I told him everything about how I was feeling and how much I needed him at that time.” I saw her press her lips together tightly in anger.  
“But I soon came to realize that my problems were ‘too much’ for him. I was relying on him for help through this difficult time, but he found it difficult to handle my troubles. He spent less and less time with me as it became evident that he wanted nothing to do with my grief as it put too much pressure on him. He pushed away when I needed him the most. So I decided to end our relationship.”  
I sat quietly, listening. I had had no idea that Toriel had been through so much.  
“Although weeks had passed,” she continued. “I was still weighed down by the loss of my brother. So I began to spend long hours sitting by the fence after school, trying to sort out my feelings. It was then that Sans first knocked from the other side of the fence. His jokes were some of the things that helped me the most.”  
She smiled to herself, not really looking at me. “I knew that there was someone who loved bad jokes as much as I did, and that helped. It helped me realize I wasn’t quite alone. We began to talk every day. I eventually realized that without him, I might never have gotten through Asriel’s death. I wanted to do one last thing for my little brother. Asriel always wanted to help those in need, so I vowed to assist any and all new students to Ebbot High School. I asked Sans to help as well, since he played a crucial role in getting me to that point.”  
So that’s what Sans had meant when he mentioned a promise. I had been wondering about that.  
“Unfortunately, I hadn’t a clue who he was, as we are in different grades and had no classes together.” She looked at me. “But, thanks to you, Frisk, we’ve become even better friends. And for that, I thank you, Frisk. I owe a lot to you.”  
I was slightly speechless. “Wow,” I finally said. “…Thank you… for telling me your story, Tori. I owe a lot to you too.” I smiled. “I don’t know where I would be right now if it wasn’t for you. Thank you so much.”


	23. Chapter 23

Eventually it was almost the last day of school, and all the teachers were just about as done with school as we were. The Science teacher just holed up in her office listening to music on her earbuds and locked the door, because it got pretty wild in the classroom so close to the end of the year.  
The P.E. teacher was so done with teaching that he let us play the one game we had been begging him to let us play since we played it on the first day of school: dodgeball!  
He didn’t even try to restore order once he broke the news. He just disappeared into the locker room while we cheered.  
Eventually, we settled down enough to establish boundaries and begin to pick teams.  
Undyne was the captain of one team (naturally), and the other captain was...  
“FRISK!” Papyrus shouted. “HOW ABOUT FRISK?”  
There were nods of agreement. I had made quite the splash at the school dance, and some people had even heard tall tales about what happened on the roof of the school.  
Before I knew it, I was pushed up through the crowd and deposited next to Undyne. She grinned at me, and we began choosing.  
Our small P.E. class stood before us. They were: Sans, Papyrus, Napstablook, Dogamy, Bratty, Aaron, Snowdrake, Mettaton, Temmie, Alphys, Doggo, Jerry, Lesser Dog, 01, 02, Icecap, and Dummy’s cousin who I had met in the dump, and who was apparently called Mad Dummy. Napstablook volunteered to referee, because someone had to, otherwise the teams would be uneven. (Although I think the real reason was that they wanted to be spared from all the chaos that was about to ensue.)  
Undyne and I arm wrestled for who got first pick, which I really should have known was a terrible idea. Undyne swept her gaze across the sea of kids surrounding us while I rubbed my sore arm in defeat.  
“Papyrus!” she shouted, and pointed at him.  
“Hey, no fair!” I said. “I wanted Papyrus on my team!”  
“Listen, punk, I called him fair and square,” said Undyne, jabbing a finger at my chest. “So TOO BAD FOR YOU, SUCKER!”  
“FRISK! UNDYNE! STOP FIGHTING!” said Papyrus. “I UNDERSTAND THAT I AM THE IDEAL CHOICE FOR A DODGEBALL TEAMMATE, BUT I WON’T STAND FOR PEOPLE FIGHTING OVER ME! I’M REALLY SORRY, FRISK, BUT UNDYNE DID PICK ME FIRST. I’LL TRY MY BEST TO BE ON YOUR TEAM NEXT TIME!”  
“Fine,” I said, heaving a heavy sigh.  
Papyrus walked over and stood next to Undyne. “Yeah!” she yelled, and gave Papyrus a high-five. “We are going to PUMMEL this competition!”  
“Oh, yeah?” I shot back. “Well, my first pick is... Sans!”  
Everybody stared at me. Then Undyne burst out laughing. “Fuhuhuhu! You really think you can beat us with that lazybones! Yeah, right! Good luck!”  
“wow, I honestly thought I was gonna get picked last,” said Sans. “guess I really DODGED a bullet there, huh?” Everyone groaned.  
I gave Sans a fist bump. “Welcome to the team, buddy!”  
“Okay, then!” said Undyne. “Let’s see here...” Undyne searched the crowd for a potential pick. I did too, so I could figure out who to pick next. 01 and 02 were really big, so they could be hit easier, but they were on the football team, so they both had mean throwing arms. Aaron’s muscles made him a pretty ideal choice, but if you had Temmie on your team... let’s just say there wouldn’t be much teamwork between those two.  
“02!” Undyne called. “Get over here!”  
02 walked over to stand behind Papyrus, moving aside to reveal Alphys, jumping up and down and waving her arms in an attempt to be seen.  
“Short... person... problems...”  
“Aw, shoot!” said Undyne. “I didn’t see you there! I’m so sorry!”  
“Hah!” I laughed. “You got Papyrus, so this is only fair! Alphys! You have been chosen!”  
“Dangit!” said Undyne as Alphys ooched over to me.  
“Th-Thanks, Frisk! I was pretty sure I would be picked last too. I h-hope I’m not a complete failure. I’m... not very sporty...”  
“No way!” I said. “This is going to be the team of the underdogs! We’re totally gonna win!”  
Undyne scoffed.  
“Okay, Undyne, your turn again,” I continued.  
“01!” Undyne shouted, immediately after I had spoken. Whoops. Those two would be a powerhouse on the same team. I started to have doubts about my captaining skills. I saw 02 do a little fist pump as 01 came over next to him.  
Well, whatever. There were plenty of good players left. “Okay then... I’ll go with... Dogamy!”  
“Aaron!”  
Shoot. “Okay then... How about...Doggo!” He actually had his glasses this time, so we might stand a chance.  
“Lesser Dog!”  
“Mad Dummy!”  
“Snowdrake!”  
“Mettaton!”  
“Bratty...”  
“Icecap!”  
“Temmie...”  
It was my turn, and there was only one person left. I had no choice...  
“...Jerry.”  
He was on his phone. “The wifi here sucks,” he mumbled.  
“Jerry!” I yelled.  
“Huh? What? Am I supposed to do something?”  
“You’re on my team! Get over here!” I said, exasperated.  
“KA-sigh. Fine, I GUESS.”  
“All right, teams!” yelled Undyne. “Huddle up, then we’ll begin!”  
“All right, bring it in, guys!” I pulled my team into a huddle. “All right, let’s figure out our plan here. 01 and 02 are pretty big, so they should be the easiest to take out. But you gotta watch out for them too.”  
“I’m, uh, not very fast, but I think I’m pretty good at catching, so, uh, I’ll try that,” said Alphys.  
“What about Papyrus?” asked Ice Cap. “He’s gonna be a real threat.”  
“oh, you don’t have to worry about him,” said Sans. “i live with the guy. i know all his strengths and weaknesses. all you gotta do is distract him with an easy target and he won’t see you coming.”  
“But Undyne’s pretty tough too,” I said. “I’m not sure what we’re going to do about her.”  
“i guess we’ll just have to figure that out when we get there, huh?”  
“I guess so. Okay, are we ready?”  
“Yeah!” yelled my team. Except for Jerry.  
“Go team on three!” I said, sticking out my hand. Everybody put their hands in the middle. “One, two, three!”  
“Go team!” we shouted, and the game began!  
Napstablook tossed five balls into the zone, right along the middle. Undyne scooped up three, Papyrus nabbed one, and one just happened to bounce over to Sans.  
Sans picked up the ball, and gave it a throw. It hit the ground about five feet from the boundary line, and rolled over to Aaron.  
Undyne yelled in triumph. “Hah! We have ALL the balls now! What are you gonna do now?”  
I sighed. We were dead already, and the game hadn’t even gone on for a full minute yet.  
Undyne reeled back to throw two balls at once, along with 01, who had received a ball from Undyne, while Papyrus and Aaron held back to peg any survivors.  
I braced for impact as Undyne released her arm and let the balls fly outward at top speed...  
But it never came. I opened my eyes to see Alphys standing in front of me, holding one of the balls in her hands. I heard 01 yell loudly and stomp off to jail. Alphys was shaking. “I was supposed to do that, right?” she whispered to me, her voice quivering.  
“Are you KIDDING?” I yell-whispered back. “That was AWESOME!”  
Alphys breathed a sigh of relief, then her eyes grew wide and she leapt to the side as Aaron’s ball came hurtling towards her. It didn’t hit her, fortunately, and the ball bounced between my legs.  
Meanwhile, Icecap had been taken out by the full force of one of Undyne’s ballistic missiles balls, and they limped over to jail. Temmie had been staring at the ball in her hands with a dazed expression, as if she wasn’t sure what to do with it. Then she tossed it underhand high into the air and it started to come down. Jerry had been on his phone, and he didn’t even notice the ball until it came down directly onto his shoulder.  
“HEY!” he yelled. “What the heck? That was SO unfair!” He stormed over to Napstablook. “Ref!” he yelled. “That wasn’t ‘in’, right? She... fouled me! Or something! It wasn’t MY fault!”  
Napstablook backed away. “um... i think you’re out...”  
“WHAT!” Jerry screamed. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”  
“Um, Jerry, you are definitely out,” I said. “It’s your own fault you weren’t paying any attention.”  
“UN. Believable,” said Jerry as he flounced off to jail. “My own teammate,” he grumbled, “I swear...”  
“um... okay then... time... time in?” said Napstablook, and the chaos resumed.  
Doggo picked up the ball from behind me, Sans tossed the ball that hit Jerry to me, and Mettaton retrieved the ball that had felled Icecap. Alphys still had the one she had caught.  
It was now four balls to one, our favor. Doggo was the first to launch his, and because he had his glasses on, he managed to knock Temmie out for the count, mainly due to the fact that she was staring off into space and counting the number of lightbulbs on the gym ceiling. Temmie didn’t even flinch, and we eventually had to call a timeout so Napstablook could drag her off to jail.  
Next, Mettaton and I launched a coordinated assault. We both threw our balls at the same target, who was Papyrus. Papyrus dodged out of the way of mine, but Mettaton’s was right on target... Until Undyne did a spectacular leap and caught it.  
Mettaton grumbled something and stalked off to the jail area.  
Alphys had attempted to throw hers at 02 while he was distracted by Undyne’s amazing save, but she didn’t quite make it. It landed right by his feet, and he picked it up.  
Alphys yelped and started skirting around the playing area. 02 took careful aim and...  
Fired. The ball went right for Alphys. She didn’t even see it coming. I decided it was all or nothing, and jumped in front of her. I tried to catch the ball, but it ended up hitting me right in the chest. “OOF!” I said, sitting down with a thump.  
02 smirked. “…gotcha.”  
“Oh no!” said Alphys. “Th-thanks for saving me, though!”  
“No problem!” I said, heading over to jail. “Good luck while I’m in jail!”  
“Don’t worry, kid,” said Sans. “We got this.”  
The remaining team members were:  
My team: Sans, Alphys, Mad Dummy, Dogamy, and Doggo.  
Undyne’s team: Papyrus, 01, 02, Lesser Dog, Snowy, and Bratty.  
So... 6 against 4. Not... terrible.  
Some team captain I was. My first heroic rescue attempt and I got my butt sent to jail and lost my team a player. Wonderful. Nothing I could do now but wait for a jailbreak and watch helplessly from jail.  
I bounced anxiously up and down on my toes for what seemed like hours while Mad Dummy, Bratty, Snowy, and Dogamy joined me in jail.  
The teams were all jumping around and yelling, dodging and throwing balls like maniacs.  
“We need to take out either Undyne or Papyrus!” yelled Doggo. “They’re too big of a threat! We’re not gonna be able to last much longer with them both still in the game!”  
“it’s five against three, man,” said Sans. “i dunno if we can. they’re not gonna let each other get out that easily.”  
I hopped around nervously. “Ooohhh... I wish I could get in there... Blooky, how long until a jailbreak?” I asked.  
They looked at their watch. “...four more minutes.”  
“Come on, you guys, just hold out for four more minutes!” I yelled at my team.  
They weren’t doing so hot. Undyne and Papyrus were firing balls at my three remaining teammates like gunfire, and they weren’t about to let up anytime soon. They were going way too fast for anybody to dare try to catch them, and my team could barely throw them back fast enough to avoid them being caught. Three minutes till jailbreak...  
And then Doggo tripped.  
He stumbled over a stray ball and fell flat on his face. Now, that wouldn’t be so bad, if it weren’t for the fact that Doggo has glasses. And they broke. And he needs them to see anything that isn’t moving. So that meant he could catch balls all right, but he couldn’t see where to throw them. And he was the strongest thrower on our team.  
To put it bluntly, we were dead.  
Suddenly, Sans stopped dead. Then he started to laugh. Undyne took this opportunity to launch an onslaught of balls at him, but somehow, all of them missed.  
I was seriously confused as to what Sans was doing, but then he picked up a ball. Based on what I had seen throughout the game, I knew that Sans couldn’t throw a ball to save his life. So, if Sans had picked up a ball, I knew what that meant. Sans had a plan.  
He walked over, holding the ball, to the middle of the court, where the separation line was. Papyrus strode over to him, holding two balls, one in each hand. Undyne was standing nearby as backup in case Papyrus missed. I guess she wanted to let Papyrus have his fun.  
“NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus gloated. “COME TO DECLARE YOUR SURRENDER, BROTHER?”  
Sans grinned. “eh... i dunno, bro... that seems like a pretty DODGY proposition if you ask me.”  
I could see Papyrus visibly trying to fight the urge to scream. He wound up to throw his ball.  
“but then again, maybe i should accept. you are pretty untoucha-BALL.”  
Papyrus was actually shaking now, turning red in the face with the effort of not giving in to the puns.  
“although, maybe i should BALL-ieve in myself more...”  
Papyrus lost it. “SANS! ENOUGH! I- “  
He was interrupted by a *doink* on his leg. He looked back at Sans, and saw him grinning even more, and with no ball in his hands.  
Everybody (including Undyne, who until then was ready to blast Sans to smithereens) was staring at Papyrus.  
“SANS...,” Papyrus began slowly.  
“yeah, bro?” Sans replied casually.  
“WAS ALL THAT JUST AN ELABORATE PLOY ENACTED SO THAT I WOULD LET MY GUARD DOWN?!?”  
“yep.”  
“CURSES!!!” Papyrus yelled, and stomped off to jail.  
Undyne finally recovered from her shock and blasted Sans to smithereens with a dodgeball.  
He landed right beside me in jail.  
“worth it.”  
By this time, Undyne was steaming mad. 01 and 02 were still on her team, but Papyrus had been the best catcher by far. And now he was out. “YOU GUYS ARE FUCKING DEAD!” she screamed. She scooped up all the balls on her team’s side and hurled them at the two remaining members of our team.  
Alphys and Doggo dodged them with relative ease, and then we realized. We have all the balls now.  
“Um...” Alphys turned to me. “What now?”  
I suddenly got a brilliant idea. “Don’t do anything!” I called over to her. “If they don’t have any balls, they can’t throw them and get you out!”  
Mad Dummy called out “Ha! I get it! They’ll be stuck fighting us... Forever. Forever! FOREVER!!!” With this they started screaming, and Sans had go over and calm them down.  
“Oh! Great idea, Frisk!” Alphys laughed.  
She and Doggo sat on the floor and stared at the other team. For two minutes. While Undyne stood there and fumed. “IS THIS YOUR GUYS’ IDEA OF STRATEGY???” she yelled.  
“Yep!” I yelled back, just as Napstablook called, “jail break!”  
Everyone rushed over to their respective sides. I grabbed all the balls in my arms and handed one to Sans, one to Alphys, one to Dogamy, one to Doggo, and kept one for myself. “Okay, guys, this is it,” I said. “As soon as we throw these balls, all hell will break loose. But we can do this! It’s comeback time!”  
“YEAH!” yelled everyone on my team. Except Jerry.  
“Then let’s do this!” We all lined up on the dividing line, balls in hand. The two teams stared at each other for a while. Nobody did anything or said a word.  
Then Alphys threw her ball. It caught 01 completely off guard, and it hit him square in the chest.  
“What the heck?!!” he yelled.  
“Holy cow, I actually did that,” Alphys said.  
I didn’t have time to congratulate her. Doggo had thrown his ball at Undyne, who had been moving to scoop up Alphys’ ball so he could see her; and Dogamy had thrown his at Papyrus, and the pandemonium began.  
Doggo had missed Undyne, but luckily it bounced on the ground before Aaron caught it. Papyrus tried to catch the ball Dogamy had thrown at him, but it ended up missing him and hitting Bratty, so she was sent off to jail. Sans seized this moment when Papyrus was distracted to toss his ball haphazardly at him, but he caught it with ease, so Sans got landed right in jail.  
But we were doing okay so far. 7 to 7. But now that they had some of the balls, we were reminded how good the other team was. Undyne threw a ball right at Mettaton’s face. He managed to duck, and it bounced on the ground and into Mad Dummy’s arms, who sent it flying right back at Undyne.  
Ice Cap and Snowdrake were having all out warfare, sending the same ball back and forth, trying get each other out, until Snowdrake actually caught it. “Ha!” he yelled. “You’re out, sucker! All hail the dodgeball master!” Ice Cap grumbled something under their breath and stomped over to jail. But Snowdrake didn’t have long to gloat, because he got beaned immediately after that by Mad Dummy.  
Meanwhile, I had caught a ball Bratty had thrown, knocked a lethal projectile away from Dogamy with it, and thrown Bratty’s ball at Aaron, and missed. Okay, I thought, out of breath. Not too bad. I decided to be a good team captain and do a general checkup on how the game was going.  
Teammate check. I glanced over at Alphys. She was doing okay. She was hopping around, dodging balls, trying to stay out of the way of the people who were throwing. Doggo was catching really well, but he still couldn’t throw because of his broken glasses. Dogamy was handling himself really well, and Mad Dummy was going all out ballistic on the other team. Mettaton turned out to be really good at dodging. Who knew? He has some strong legs.  
Opponent check. Undyne and Papyrus were unstoppable, as usual. 02 was still big, and Aaron was still had muscles. No, don’t get discouraged! I told myself. We can still do this!  
Time check. I called over to Napstablook. “Hey, Blooky! How much longer till the bell rings?”  
She looked at her watch. “um... ten more minutes.” Okay. Not bad.  
(Keep in mind, I was doing all this while bouncing around to avoid being smacked in the face with playground balls. This was not easy, people!)  
Jail check. Ice Cap, Bratty, 01, Jerry, Lesser Dog, Sans, Snowdrake, and Temmie were out. That left us... 6 to 4 again? Our favor this time? Holy cow, we might actually be able to do this!  
“Okay, guys,” Dogamy yelled. “We need a plan. Gotta figure out a way to take them down once and for all.”  
“NYEH HEH HEH!” laughed Papyrus. “NO PLAN IS GREAT ENOUGH TO STOP THIS TEAM! ESPECIALLY WHEN IT INCLUDES THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He punctuated this remark with a ball thrown right at my face. I wasn’t about to try to catch a ball thrown by HIM, so I stepped to the side and it went whizzing past my ear.  
I had begun to formulate some sort of an idea. “Okay, I think I’ve got something here,” I said. I pulled each player into a corner one by one when they weren’t being targeted and filled them in on my plan. While we were dodging balls. Did I mention this was hard?  
Eventually, everyone on the team knew what they were doing, and we put our plan into action.  
We got into formation. Alphys and I stood near the dividing line, Mad Dummy and Mettaton stood behind us, and Doggo and Dogamy off to either side.  
Undyne’s team had all of the balls. Mad Dummy and Mettaton were the best dodgers on the team, so they stood in the middle while they were showered with balls. The balls all rolled back to Doggo and Dogamy, who threw them all back at the other team except for two. Those they kept with them. The other team didn’t really notice. They were too busy sending balls back at us.  
Even though Alphys and I were standing right by the line, they weren’t paying much attention to us, because we didn’t have any balls. We just stood there pretending like we didn’t know what we were doing.  
It was my job to initiate the final attack. I waited... waited for the perfect moment...  
Finally, when Papyrus and Undyne were right up against the line, right in the middle of the court, I yelled, “NOW!”  
Doggo and Dogamy rolled the balls they had been holding toward Alphys and me, and we grabbed them. Both of us ran for the middle of the court. Alphys faced Papyrus, and I faced Undyne. Each of us held a ball in their hands. Doggo stood behind me, and Dogamy stood behind Alphys.  
“You ready to get destroyed, punk?” snarled Undyne.  
“Think again, Undyne!” I said. “It’s comeback time!”  
That was our secret signal. Alphys and I both faked a throw at Papyrus and Undyne, respectively. They were caught off guard and hurled their balls at us. We both stepped inwards, dodging them, and then I threw my ball at Papyrus, and Alphys threw hers at Undyne. They both got hit at the exact same time.  
“Wh- but- what???” spluttered Undyne, her jaw dropping. “HOW DID THAT HAPPEN??!!”  
“YEAH, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN???” asked Papyrus, equally as incredulous.  
“YEAH!” I yelled. “Good job, Alphys!” I gave her a high five.  
“Oh, man, I really did that!” she said in disbelief. “S-Sorry, Undyne!” she giggled.  
Undyne looked like she was about to go berserk, but then she smiled. “Ah, it’s okay. That was actually really impressive!” She waved at us as she headed over to jail. “Good luck, guys! May the best team win!”  
“AGREED!” said Papyrus as he joined Undyne in jail.  
Our plan wasn’t over yet. We may have eliminated our two most formidable rivals, but 02 and Aaron still remained, and they were not to be taken lightly. It was time to initiate Phase 2.  
Okay, so the plan had been to distract them with easy targets so they would be over on one side of the court so that Dogamy, our best thrower, could fire two balls one right after the other to knock them both out. But we underestimated Aaron’s muscles.  
He launched that dodgeball straight at Dogamy at such speed that he had no time to dodge, and when he tried to catch it, it slipped out of his fingers and hit him in the chest.  
“Hah!” he gloated. “Nice try, dude ;)”  
“Sorry, guys!” said Dogamy regretfully.  
“What do we do now, captain?” asked Mettaton. My whole team looked at me.  
“...I’ve got an idea! Alphys, grab a ball and come with me. You too, Doggo. Mad Dummy, you get behind Mettaton. Don’t let anything get past you. Let’s do this!”  
“Okay!” everybody yelled.  
Alphys and Doggo scooped up a ball each and followed me to a far corner of the court. 02 immediately started for Mad Dummy and Mettaton, a ball in hand.  
I whispered my plan to Alphys. She nodded, then rolled her ball across the whole court and right past Aaron, who didn’t notice it until it went past him. He turned around and started chasing after it, and I said, “Alright, Doggo, let ’im have it!”  
Doggo took a running start and heaved his ball straight at Aaron’s back.  
Meanwhile, 02 was closing in on Mad Dummy and Mettaton. He wound up, and Mettaton braced for impact. “You ready?” he asked Mad Dummy.  
“Heck yeah. Heck yeah! HECK YEAH!!!” yelled Mad Dummy enthusiastically.  
02 threw his ball right at Mettaton. He jumped out of the way, and the ball headed for Mad Dummy. And they caught it just as Doggo’s ball hit Aaron!  
“VICTORY!!!” I cried, jumping up into the air with delight.  
Alphys was bouncing up and down on her toes. “We did it! We did it!” she was saying.  
Everyone on our side of the jail was cheering too. Except Jerry.  
Sans was distributing congratulatory noogies, Mad Dummy was running around yelling like a crazy person, and Doggo was high-fiving anybody that moved.  
Amidst all the hubbub, Undyne walked over to where I was. She had a big grin on her face. She stuck out her hand. “Good job, punk!” she said. “The best team won!”  
I shook it. “Thanks, Undyne! Good game! You were really tough to beat.”  
Undyne laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll beat you next time!”  
“y’know... you might be on the same team next time.” Sans had materialized right next to us.  
Undyne nearly jumped out of her skin. “Where did YOU come from???”  
He shrugged. “just wanted to tell a kid ‘good game’. so... ‘good game’.” He stuck out his hand for a shake, and Undyne took it.  
“Yeah... good game, dude!”  
Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind in a crushing hug. “CONGRATULATIONS, FRISK!” It was Papyrus. “I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!”  
“Thanks, Papyrus!” I said. “You were pretty great yourself!”  
“HEY! Whose side are you even on, anyway?” asked Undyne, incredulous.  
“ALL OF THEM! I’M ON ALL OF THE SIDES!” said Papyrus.  
Undyne broke into a grin. “Can’t argue with that logic,” she said with a shrug. Just then, she noticed something over my shoulder. “HEY, ALPHYS!” she yelled. “GET OVER HERE!”  
Alphys edged shyly over. “H-hey, guys! That was a, uh, fun game, huh?”  
She immediately got the breath squeezed out of her by Undyne’s crushing hug. “You did so GOOD!” she said.  
“R-really?”  
“Totally!” said Undyne. “You got out one of the biggest guys on our team! And me! And how many times did you get out? Hmm, what was it again... none?”  
Alphys grinned and blushed. “Th-thanks, Undyne!”  
“um, hey, guys?” said Sans. “hate to cut this short, but the bell’s about to ring. we should probably head in.”  
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”  
So my friends and I all left the gym, sweaty and exhausted, but joking, laughing, and high-fiving each other the whole way.


	24. Chapter 24

Finally, finally, it was the second to last day of school. The second day of finals was over, and everyone was just about ready to be done with school.  
I was walking home from school, wondering what I would do for the rest of the day, when I found myself walking past a familiar house. I paused and stared at it.  
I had known for a while that I would need to come back here, but I had been putting it off. But here I was, right in front of it.  
I decided there was no time like the present.  
I walked to the back gate and gave it a push. It was unlocked. I guessed he hadn’t listened to Toriel.  
I slowly entered the backyard of the house. Standing in the middle of it was a boy, facing a bed of golden flowers.  
“Hey,” I said softly.  
Flowey looked over his shoulder. “Oh… howdy.” He said nothing for a moment. “Don’t worry about me,” he said eventually. “Someone has to take care of these flowers.”  
I didn’t move.  
“… Why are you still here?” asked Flowey after a minute, still facing the flower bed. “Are you trying to keep me company?”  
“Well, yeah,” I said slowly. “I thought you could use it.”  
Flowey sighed. “Let’s be honest,” he said. “I did some weird stuff earlier.” He turned around to face me. “There’s one last thing I feel like I should tell you.”  
“Go ahead.”  
Flowey took a deep breath. “When I was a little kid,” he began, “I had a best friend named Chara. I had known them for almost my whole life.” He looked up at the sky wistfully. “We did everything together. They were almost like a sibling to me.”  
“Aw, that sounds nice,” I said.  
Flowey gave a small smile. “Yeah, it was… pretty nice. But, right after eighth grade, my family had to move away. I had to leave Chara.”  
“Oh no,” I said. “That must have been so hard.”  
“Yeah,” said Flowey. “It –” he gulped. “It was. We promised to write each other as often we possibly could. Then my family moved here. I started high school at E.H.S. I had no friends.” He sighed. “Oh, I tried to make some. I tried being nice to people. But they pushed me away, like I was just some weirdo who didn’t belong. I was so alone… All I had were the letters from Chara. I kept writing to them, telling them how much I missed them. But all they would talk about was all the cool stuff they were doing with their new friends back home. And then one day… the letters stopped coming. I kept writing… but I never got a reply.”  
Flowey looked up at me. “They forgot me, Frisk. Their new friends were more important to them than I was.” I saw his lower lip begin to tremble. “They left me completely alone. With nobody.”  
Flowey’s face crumpled, and tears began to pour down his face. Without a word I stepped close to him and wrapped my arms around him. I felt his head sink onto my shoulder as he wrapped his arms tightly around me.  
We stood there for several moments, saying nothing.  
“Ha… ha…” said Flowey finally. “I don’t want to let go…”  
Eventually, he did let go, and I stepped back. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’ve always been a crybaby.”  
“It’s okay,” I said.  
“Maybe…” said Flowey slowly. “…the truth is… Chara wasn’t really the greatest person. While Frisk… You’re the type of friend I wish I always had.”  
I smiled at him. “Thanks, Flowey, I appreciate that.”  
Flowey continued. “So maybe I was kind of projecting a little bit. The thing is… Frisk, when I first realized Chara had forgotten about me, I was crushed. I had no idea what to do. I somehow convinced myself that it was my fault. This whole time, I’ve blamed myself for letting myself get hurt like that. That’s why I adapted that horrible view of the world. ‘Kill or be killed’. But now… after meeting you… Frisk, I don’t blame myself anymore. In the end, it all turned out okay, right? I still feel kind of sad knowing how long it took… so maybe I could have tried a bit harder. But you can’t regret hard choices your whole life, right?”  
I nodded. “Right.”  
Flowey and I were quiet for a moment. “Frisk… I have to go soon. My family is moving again.”  
I still said nothing.  
“Thank you for listening to me,” Flowey said. “You should really go be with your friends now, okay?” He looked down at the ground. “It’s best if you just forget about me. Just go be with the people who love you.” He looked back up at me. “Oh, and please… in the future, if you uh, see me… don’t think of it as the guy who terrorized you in high school, okay? I just want you to remember me like this. Someone that was your friend for a little while.”  
“I will.” I nodded. “Don’t worry.”  
Flowey smiled. “Thank you.” He turned to face the flowers again. “Oh, and Frisk…” he said. “Be careful out there, okay? There are a lot of Floweys in this world. And not everything can be resolved by just being nice. Frisk… Don’t kill, and don’t be killed, alright? That’s the best you can strive for.”  
I gulped. “Yeah… you’re right.”  
I saw Flowey nod. “Well, see you.”  
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to leave. “…Flowey?”  
Flowey sighed. “Frisk… don’t you have anything better to do?”  
I said nothing, but placed my hand on Flowey’s shoulder. He didn’t turn around. I gave his shoulder one last squeeze, then walked away.  
I slumped down the street towards my house, still processing all that had happened. After a few blocks, I came to a bus stop. A small person was sitting on the bench, hands clasped in their lap, staring off into the distance with a small smile on their face. Their face brightened when they saw me, and they waved. “Hey! Frisk!” they called.  
I went over to them. “Uh, hi,” I said. “Do I… know you?”  
“Yeah!” they said cheerfully. “Don’t you remember? It’s me! Froggit!”  
My mind flashed back to my first day of school, when Toriel had introduced me to some of the other kids at school. “Oh, yeah, I remember you!” I said. “How goes contemplating life?”  
Froggit smiled. “It’s going great, thanks for asking!” They bit their lip. “Hey, I’ve actually been hoping I’d run into you,” they said. “I want to tell you something.”  
“What is it?” I asked.  
“My ‘contemplating life’ thing… you’ve helped it a lot.”  
“Me?”  
“Yeah,” said Froggit. “Even though I haven’t seen you since the first day of school, I’ve kept hearing a lot about you. From my older sibling, from my friends. About how you’re pretty much the nicest person in the school.”  
“Wait, really?” I asked in disbelief. “They said that??”  
Froggit nodded. “Uh huh! Everyone I ask about you says that you make friends with everyone and are never mean to anyone.” Froggit looked down at the ground. “I’ve even heard some things about you and a guy with golden hair… that he was really mean to you…” Froggit looked back up at me. “But even so, you were still nice to him! Is that true?”  
I nodded. “Yeah. It’s true.”  
Froggit was starry eyed. “I’ve always believed it!” they said. “Before you came here, I didn’t really know what my purpose was… but now I have a way better idea because of you! I wanna be as nice as you and make friends with everyone!” Froggit smiled at me. “You really are something special, Frisk. You’ve helped everyone here a whole lot. I hope you know that.”  
I was speechless. “Froggit… I… I don’t… know what to say.”  
“You don’t have to say anything,” said Froggit. “I’m just glad I could finally tell you all of this.”  
Looking at their earnest face, I was flooded with emotions. I suddenly felt like everyone I’d ever met at Ebbot High School was thinking the same thing Froggit was. I abruptly grabbed Froggit in a hug. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you so much.”  
Froggit laughed and hugged me back. “No, Frisk, thank YOU. From all of us.


	25. Chapter 25

The next day was the day we’d all been waiting for, the last day of school! The whole school was pumped. Everyone was buzzing about their plans for summer vacation and how much they couldn’t wait to get out of there.  
Everyone could barely keep in their seats for the last final exams of the year, but they did. When the last bell finally rang, the entire population of Ebbot High School burst out of their classrooms.  
“WE DID IT!” said Papyrus outside of our English classroom. “SOPHOMORE YEAR, IN THE BOOKS!!!”  
“Two down, two to go!” I said, high-fiving him.  
Undyne passed us in the halls. “Hey, nerds!” she said. “Whatcha doing? You’re coming to graduation, right?”  
“Oh, right!” I said. Since Toriel and Asgore were both seniors, they were graduating. “C’mon Papyrus!”  
He, Undyne and I headed out of the school and to the football field, where all the seniors were already sitting in hundreds of chairs facing a stage, wearing their caps and gowns. I looked but couldn’t find Toriel or Asgore anywhere, but I was sure they were there somewhere.  
We climbed the bleachers until we found Sans and Alphys, cracking up about something.  
“hey,” Sans greeted us. “c’mon, we saved you guys seats.”  
Undyne, Papyrus, and I sat next to Sans and Alphys and the graduation ceremony began.  
The principal and vice principal each gave a short speech and then began calling names.  
“Dreemurr, Asgore.”  
Asgore ascended the stairs to the stage, shook hands with the principal, and received his diploma while my friends and I cheered.  
A few minutes later, the vice principal called, “Kidemonas, Toriel.”  
Toriel did the same as Asgore, shaking the vice principal’s hand and receiving her diploma.  
“WOOOO, TORIEL!” I yelled. To my surprise, she heard me and made eye contact with me. We grinned at each other.  
After the ceremony we met Toriel at the school gates. She had changed out of her cap and gown and was waiting for us.  
I ran up to her and hugged her. “Congratulations, Tori!” I said.  
“Thank you, Frisk,” she said. “It has been quite a year, has it not?”  
“It certainly has,” I agreed. “But here we are! At the end!”  
“UGH!” Undyne suddenly cried. “GUYS! I’m BORED!!! Let’s go do something! It’s summer now!”  
“H-How about we go to the beach?” asked Alphys.  
“THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN EXCELLENT IDEA!” said Papyrus. “WHAT DO YOU THINK, BROTHER?” he asked Sans.  
“if you guys are down, i’m down,” he replied. “whadda ya say, frisk and tori?”  
“I think that sounds fun!” I said.  
“I do as well,” said Toriel. “How about we all meet there in an hour so that we may have time to change into our swimsuits?”  
“Okie dokie!” I said. “I-” Just then, I noticed Asgore a few feet away behind Toriel talking to 01 and 02. Toriel saw me looking over her shoulder and turned to look. She made a face when she saw Asgore.  
“Tori?” I said warily. “Is it okay if I…?”  
Toriel sighed. “I suppose so.”  
“Thanks Tori! You’re the best!” I said as I hurried over to Asgore.  
“Hey, Asgore!” I said as I approached him.  
Asgore turned. “Oh! Howdy, Frisk!” he smiled. “Happy last day of school!”  
“You too!” I said. “Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?”  
“Oh, of course!” he said. “Will you two excuse me for a moment?” he asked 01 and 02.  
“Oh, it’s totally fine, dude,” said 01. “We were just about to head out anyway.” He waved. “See ya, man!”  
“…see ya,” chimed in 02. He caught my eye and gave me a wink as he and 01 walked off. I noticed they were holding hands.  
“So, what’s up, Frisk?” asked Asgore.  
“A bunch of us are going to hang out at the beach in a bit, and I was wondering if you’d want to come?”  
“Golly, Frisk, thanks for inviting me!” said Asgore. “Who’s going to be there?”  
“Well,” I replied. “It’ll be me, Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, Sans, and, uh, Toriel.”  
Asgore gave a sad smile when I said Toriel’s name. “I don’t suppose she’s… too crazy about the idea of me being there, huh?”  
“Umm,” I said awkwardly.  
“It’s okay,” said Asgore. “I won’t… be weird.” He cleared his throat. “In any case, I’d love to come! It’ll be a fun way to kick off the summer.”  
“Awesome!” I said. “Meet us there in about an hour.” I headed back to the group. “See you then!”  
“See you!” Asgore waved.  
“What was that about?” Alphys asked.  
“Asgore’s going to meet us there too,” I said.  
“ALRIGHT!!” cheered Undyne. “This’ll be AWESOME!”  
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I think it will!”

An hour later, we were all at the beach, me, Undyne, Alphys, Sans, Papyrus, Toriel, and Asgore. We all just ran around like a bunch of little kids, building sand castles, swimming and splashing in the water, and playing catch with an old baseball Asgore had brought. At one point we sent Sans and Papyrus for a snack run and they came back with ice cream, so we all sat on the sand eating ice cream for a while. It was nice. And then as soon as we were done we got right back to running around. Papyrus and I built an awesome sandcastle, but Undyne accidentally wrecked it diving to the beach to catch the ball Asgore threw. So she helped us build an even better one!  
We were there for hours. I think we all lost track of time. We were having so much fun that we didn’t even notice how long we had been there until we realized it was beginning to get dark.  
“Hey, look!” said Alphys, pointing towards the ocean. We all turned. The sun was slowly sinking behind the waves, a glowing ball that turned the whole sky into gold.  
“Oh my…” said Toriel.  
“Isn’t it beautiful, everyone?” asked Asgore.  
“Wow…” said Alphys. “I-It sure is!”  
Undyne sighed. “Dang, I could get used to this. The sunlight is so nice… and the air is so fresh! I really feel alive!”  
“HEY SANS…” said Papyrus. “ARE YOU ASLEEP?”  
“nah,” said Sans from where he was stretched out on a beach towel. “just… contemplating life and nature.”  
“I DON’T BELIEVE YOU.”  
“I could stand here and watch this for hours…” said Asgore.  
“Yes, it is beautiful, is it not?” asked Toriel. “But we should really think about what comes next.”  
“Oh, right,” said Asgore.  
“Once the summer is over, I will be going to college,” said Toriel.  
“Me too,” said Asgore. “I’m… looking forward to it.”  
I wrapped an arm around Toriel. “I’m going to miss you both,” I said.  
Toriel hugged me. “I will miss you too, Frisk,” she said. “But worry not. I will return to visit often, and you will always be my dear friend.”  
“Thanks, Tori,” I said, trying to blink away the tears welling in my eyes.  
“BUT!!!” said Papyrus. “YOU’RE FORGETTING!!! SOMETHING!!! THERE’S STILL A WHOLE SUMMER AHEAD OF US! WITH LOTS OF THINGS TO DO.” He jumped up. “I’M GOING TO GET STARTED RIGHT NOW!!!” Papyrus began to sprint down the beach.  
“welp,” said Sans. “someone’s gotta keep him from getting into trouble.” He slowly got up from his beach towel. “see you guys,” he said with a wink as he headed off in the opposite direction as Papyrus.  
“Man, do I have to do EVERYTHING?” asked Undyne. “Papyrus, wait!!!” She took off after him.  
“Hey, Undyne!! Wait up!!” cried Alphys. She hurried to follow her.  
Now it was just me, Toriel, and Asgore standing on the beach, looking at the sunset.  
“Whoops,” said Asgore. Toriel ignored him.  
“Uh, should I do something?” he asked. Toriel still ignored him.  
“Well, gotta go!” he finally said, and hurried away. Toriel watched him leave.  
“It seems that everyone is quite eager to set off,” she said to me. “What about you, Frisk?”  
I took a deep breath. “As much as I want to stay here…” I said. “I have places to go.” My parents were expecting me home pretty soon.  
“Of course,” said Toriel. “I understand. It is rather late.” She extended a hand to me. “Shall I walk you home?”  
I smiled and took it. “Please.”  
We walked in silence from the beach to my house, enjoying the cool night air and each others’ company. When we got there, Toriel gave me a hug.  
“Thanks for a great day,” I said. “I had a lot of fun.”  
“I did as well,” Toriel replied. She looked at me. “I have a feeling… that this is going to be a great summer.”  
I nodded. “Me too,” I said. I turned, about to head into my house.  
“Frisk…” said Toriel. I turned around. She smiled at me. “See you soon.”  
I smiled back. “See you soon.”


End file.
